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LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

University  of  California. 

Class                 j0mfm*t 
EDUC 

PSYCH. 
LIBRARY 

PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH   AND 
THE    RESURRECTION 


OTHER  WORKS   BY 
PROF.   JAMES   H.  HYSLOP 


BORDERLAND    OF    PSYCHICAL 
RESEARCH 

$1.50  net;  by  mail  $1.62 

ENIGMAS    OF    PSYCHICAL 
RESEARCH 

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SCIENCE  AND  A  FUTURE  LIFE 
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SMALL,  MAYNARD  &  COMPANY 
15  BEACON  ST.,  BOSTON 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 
AND  THE  RESURRECTION 


BY 


JAMES  H.   HYSLOP,  Ph.D.,   LL.D 

FORMERLY     PROFESSOR    OF     ETHICS     AND 
LOGIC    IN    COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY 


SMALL,  MAYNARD  AND  COMPANY 
BOSTON        -        -        -        MCMVIII 


■BFiom 
H  . 


Copyright,    1908  gUC. 

Small,  /IRasnarD  S.  Gompang      UBfiAOT 

(  INCORPORATED  ) 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 


titfttriAL 


Published,  May,  1908 


THIS  VOLUME   IS  DEDICATED 
TO 

/IDS  Cbflfcren, 

WHO  WILL  SOME  DAY  SEE  THE  LIGHT 


PREFACE 

The  present  volume  contains  a  number  of  essays 
relating  to  the  subjects  discussed  in  three  previous 
volumes,  Borderland  of  Psychical  Research,  Enigmas 
of  Psychical  Research,  and  Science  and  a  Future 
Life.  The  matter  is  largely  new.  Two  of  the  es- 
says —  the  first  and  the  last  —  have  not  been  pub- 
lished before.  The  others  have  been  collected  from 
various  periodicals  in  which  they  first  received  publi- 
cation. 

The  first-named  of  the  volumes  previously  pub- 
lished deals  with  the  phenomena  of  normal  psychology 
and  its  problems  and  with  some  of  the  borderline  facts 
of  abnormal  psychology.  It  includes  chapters  on 
sense  perception,  memory,  illusions,  hallucinations, 
subconscious  action,  pseudo-spiritistic  phenomena, 
hypnotic  therapeutics,  and  reincarnation.  The  sec- 
ond discusses  crystal  gazing,  telepathy,  clairvoyance, 
premonition  and  mediumistic  phenomena.  The  third 
is  a  summary  of  the  facts  associated  with  the  experi- 
ments of  Dr.  Hodgson  and  others  in  connection  with 
the  case  of  Mrs.  Piper.  The  present  volume  covers 
more  or  less  of  the  whole  field  and  may  be  regarded 
as  a  supplement  to  Science  and  a  Future  Life,  with 
conclusions  quite  the  same.  They  all  deal  with  a 
residual  class  of  phenomena  now  demanding  more  and 
more  attention  and  suggesting  a  wider  range  of 
ix 


meaning  for  human  personality  than  the  orthodox 
psychology  has  been  disposed  to  admit.  It  is  hoped 
that  these  essays  may  help  to  shed  some  light  on  the 
problems  involved. 

There  is  no  class  of  phenomena  that  have  a  greater 
interest  for  many  persons  at  the  present  day  than 
those  which  are  attributed  to  "  subliminal  conscious- 
ness "  or  "  secondary  personality."  These  terms 
figure  so  prominently  in  all  discussions  of  obscure 
problems  in  psychology,  and  especially  in  literature 
which  objects  to  spiritistic  theories,  that  it  may  be 
well  to  make  clear  what  they  mean. 

To  make  intelligible  what  we  mean  by  "  secondary 
personality  "  it  may  be  necessary  briefly  to  indicate 
what  we  mean  by  "  personality  "  of  any  kind.  By 
"  personality,"  we  mean  a  group  of  mental  states 
which  are  continuous  and  coherent,  so  that  they  pres- 
ent a  persistent  unity  and  real  or  apparent  identity  of 
kind  and  meaning.  In  common  parlance  we  might 
call  it  the  mental  characteristics  of  a  person,  this  being 
the  name  for  an  individual  organism  and  its  functions 
as  a  whole.  But  the  mental  peculiarities  which  main- 
tain a  continuous  and  persistent  unity  throughout 
the  life  of  this  person  or  individual,  or  at  least  for 
definite  periods  of  time,  are  called  its  "  personality," 
and  in  the  normal  man  persist  through  his  whole 
life.  This  is  called  the  "  primary  personality."  But 
in  certain  not  altogether  normal  conditions  the  in- 
dividual may  exhibit  mental  actions  which  simulate 
some  other  "  personality,"  or  "  person  "  if  we  may 
so  call  it,  and  betray  no  memory  connections  with  the 
primary  consciousness.  This  we  call  a  "  secondary 
x 


personality."  It  begins  in  the  ordinary  subconscious 
action,  which  in  the  normal  man  accompanies  the 
natural  consciousness.  Many  of  our  actions  are  sub- 
conscious or  carried  on  unconsciously  and  without 
set  purpose.  If  these  actions  lose  their  relation  to 
our  ordinary  control  and  become  split  off  from  the 
influence  of  the  normal  consciousness  they  become 
organized  into  a  consistent  imitation  of  another  "  per- 
son "  and  are  called  the  "  secondary  "  consciousness 
or  "  personality."  In  such  cases  there  is  no  connec- 
tion by  memory  between  secondary  consciousness  and 
the  normal  consciousness,  any  more  than  there  is  be- 
tween two  different  individuals.  They  may  show 
that  they  belong  to  the  same  group  of  experiences 
by  the  fact  that  each  "  personality  "  may  recall  the 
same  facts,  indicating  that  the  secondary  conscious- 
ness has  its  own  memory,  but  there  is  no  memory  by 
each  of  the  other's  facts. 

In  all  the  phenomena  of  psychical  research  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe  that  subliminal  or  subcon- 
scious mental  action  is  the  medium  through  which 
these  phenomena  are  produced,  and  it  is  the  task  of 
the  investigator  to  determine  when  the  phenomena 
are,  and  when  they  are  not,  the  result  of  the  individ- 
ual's normal  experience  or  sense  perception.  The 
place  that  this  has  in  the  production  of  them  has  not 
yet  been  clearly  indicated  and  it  may  take  a  long 
and  tedious  investigation  to  determine  the  point.  At 
present  there  are  no  definitely  assigned  limits  to  sub- 
liminal action,  except  those  facts  which  can  not  be 
explained  by  previous  normal  sense  perception. 
There  are  types  of  phenomena  which  clearly  indicate 
xi 


PREFACE 

this  subconscious  action,  such  as  dreams,  deliria, 
sleep-walking,  and  all  cases  of  temporary  loss  of  the 
sense  of  personal  identity.  But  we  seem  to  transcend 
this  in  mediumistic  phenomena  and  telepathy  where, 
whatever  the  functions  of  subliminal  action,  we  ob- 
tain information  in  some  ordinarily  inexplicable  way 
outside  the  subject  in  which  it  occurs,  representing 
the  personality  or  mental  state  of  some  one  else. 
Secondary  personality  may  be  the  condition  of  get- 
ting such  "  messages "  and  so  serve  as  the  matrix 
into  which  they  are  poured.  But  whether  so  or  not, 
it  is  not  the  place  in  a  preface  to  explain  it.  All 
that  it  is  necessary  to  do  here  is  to  define  the  inter- 
mediate mental  conditions  affecting  the  supernormal 
and  perhaps  serving  as  the  medium  for  its  expres- 
sion. 

Many  persons  imagine  that  "  secondary  personal- 
ity "  means  some  extraneous  reality  or  double  which 
is  as  independent  as  a  real  person.  But  this  is  not 
its  meaning  in  scientific  psychology.  In  no  respect 
is  it  a  competitor  in  the  explanation  of  spiritistic 
phenomena  having  a  supernormal  character.  It 
readily  explains  the  simulations  of  spiritism,  but 
since  it  is  itself  based  upon  the  normal  experience  of 
the  individual  dissociated  from  the  normal  memory, 
it  does  not  imply  anything  foreign  to  the  organism 
and  explains  nothing  but  the  appearances  of  exter- 
nal realities,  if  it  can  be  said  to  explain  anything  at 
all.  It  represents  phenomena  as  much  within  the  sub- 
ject as  does  the  primary  personality.  But  it  may 
nevertheless  be  the  means  by  which  foreign  influences 


may  be  able  to  intromit  "  messages  "  into  the  phys- 
ical world,  whether  those  influences  be  telepathic  or 
spiritual. 

The  first  of  the  three  books  before-mentioned  deals 
with  these  borderline  phenomena;  the  second  shows 
a  large  group  of  phenomena  not  amenable  to  sub- 
liminal explanations  alone;  and  the  third  deals  with 
information  that  consistently  represents  the  person- 
alities of  deceased  persons.  The  present  volume  adds 
to  the  data  which  cover  all  three  fields  of  inquiry. 
The  chapters  detailing  the  "  communications  "  pur- 
porting to  come  from  Dr.  Hodgson  represent,  in 
some  cases,  a  series  of  phenomena  that  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  calling  "  cross  references."  This  means 
"  messages "  that  are  repeated  through  different 
psychical  subjects.  They  are  a  peculiarly  effective 
evidence  of  the  supernormal,  whatever  the  explana- 
tion. The  chapter  on  "  Visions  of  the  Dying  "  rep- 
resents another  type  of  phenomena  scarcely  less 
significant,  though  not  so  easily  determined  by  ex- 
periments as  are  mediumistic  incidents. 

The  province  and  limitations  of  telepathy  are  ex- 
plained in  the  chapter  on  that  subject  and  I  do  not 
need  to  dwell  upon  it  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
many  persons  have  most  extravagant  conceptions  of 
what  it  is  supposed  to  be.  But  for  science  it  is  a 
very  rare  phenomenon  and  has  far  greater  limita- 
tions than  the  public  imagines.  It  is  merely  a  name 
for  a  group  of  facts,  not  for  any  explanatory  process 
regarding  them.  If  the  public  exhibited  any  ra- 
tional ideas  about  this  matter,  science  might  be  more 


willing  to  take  it  up  for  serious  investigation.  But 
nothing  can  be  done  with  it  until  the  subject  is 
looked  at  reasonably. 

The  phenomena  still  accumulate,  and  increase  the 
duties  of  science  to  investigate  and  interpret  them. 
There  are  growing  signs  that  intelligent  men  see 
that  a  new  world  of  facts  promises  to  open  to  human 
vision  and  interest,  and  only  self-complacent  dog- 
matists any  longer  ridicule  the  subject.  As  these 
men  die,  their  places  will  be  taken  by  a  younger  gen- 
eration that  has  no  prejudices  to  maintain.  We  have 
only  to  exercise  patience  until  the  victory  has  been 
won,  though  it  is  unfortunate  that  we  are  not  al- 
lowed to  discuss  the  issues  which  are  involved  while 
accumulating  the  facts  which  are  to  decide  it.  A  bet- 
ter day  will  soon  arrive  for  this  discussion  and  the 
next  generation  will  treat  the  intolerance  of  the  pres- 
ent as  we  treat  the  attacks  on  Copernican  astronomy 
and  Darwinian  evolution.  We  only  await  sufficient 
intelligence  to  endow  the  investigation  when  it  may 
be  made  commensurate  with  the  immensity  of  the 
task. 

James  H.  Hyslop. 
New  York  City,  January  30th,  1908. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     HUMOROUS   ASPECTS    OF   PSYCHICAL   RE- 
SEARCH    1 

II.     PSYCHICAL       RESEARCH       AND       COINCI- 
DENCES     24 

III.  "  FROM  INDIA  TO  THE  PLANET  MARS  "     .     61 

IV.  VISIONS  OF  THE  DYING 81, 

V.     EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER   SINCE 

DR.  RICHARD  HODGSON'S  DEATH  .      .      .109 
VI.     FURTHER    EXPERIMENTS     RELATING    TO 

DR.  HODGSON  SINCE  HIS  DEATH  .      .      .127 
VII.     CONCLUSION      OF      EXPERIMENTS       REL- 
ATIVE TO  DR.  HODGSON ;  THEORIES  .      .   159 

VIII.     THE  SMEAD  CASE 222 

IX.     SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHE- 
NOMENA         268 

X.     TELEPATHY 305 

XI.  THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  .      .  332 

XII.  PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH  AND  THE  RESUR- 

RECTION        352 


PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH  AND  THE 
RESURRECTION 

CHAPTER  I 

HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL   RESEARCH 

So  many  fools  have  been  made  wise  and  so  many 
wise  men  made  fools  in  the  study  of  phenomena 
having  an  alleged  significance  for  supernormal  knowl- 
edge and  transcendental  forces  that  the  subject  has 
a  great  many  humorous  aspects  for  one  who  sees 
much  of  human  nature.  The  whole  history  of  the 
subject  has  connected  it  with  promises  that  perhaps 
have  more  personal  interest  for  the  majority  of  the 
race  than  any  other  problem.  Expectation  in  regard 
to  it  has  not  only  defied  prejudice  and  scientific  dog- 
matism but  has  been  enhanced  by  the  marvellous 
achievements  of  discovery  and  invention.  The  prog- 
ress of  the  physical  sciences  with  their  speculations 
on  the  existence  of  invisible  physical  forces  has  broken 
down  the  old  standards  of  belief  and  left  the  average 
man  with  imaginative  possibilities  that  even  the  an- 
tagonism to  the  supernatural  cannot  wholly  overcome. 
The  consequence  is  that  we  are  all  in  a  situation  which 
prevents  us  from  denying  the  possibility  of  anything 
or  everything  and  leaves  us  at  the  mercy  of  every 
one  who  asks  for  no  other  credentials  for  belief  than 
the  impossibility  of  denial.  Between  credulity  and 
moral  earnestness  on  the  one  hand  and  intelligence 
1 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

and  emasculated  dogmatism  on  the  other  we  have  an 
opportunity  for  as  much  amusement  as  science.  The 
cranks  who  have  no  sense  of  humor  make  good  targets 
for  ridicule  while  the  scientists  who  love  to  dispense 
this  contempt  are  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  ignor- 
ing facts  to  save  the  reputation  of  their  theories. 
Between  them  lies  the  every  day  practical  man  of 
the  world  who  wants  to  be  on  the  side  of  intelligence 
and  to  indulge  his  contempt  for  folly,  but  does  not 
know  how  to  distinguish  intelligently  the  occasions 
for  the  display  of  a  discreet  knowledge  from  those 
which  justify  the  use  of  sarcasm.  The  indiscriminate 
medley  of  people  that  is  mixed  in  with  all  these 
classes  make  up  a  world  that  may  well  offer  an  inter- 
esting field  for  Puck-  or  Punch. 

In  the  study  of  psychical  research  the  class  which 
perhaps  excites  the  most  animosity  and  amusement 
is  the  spiritualist.  To  me  the  most  interesting  char- 
acteristic of  the  enthusiasts  in  this  creed  is  their  utter 
lack  of  the  sense  of  humor  when  discussing  their  phe- 
nomena and  theories.  Their  doctrine  in  this  respect  is 
too  much  like  a  religion  to  escape  being  serious. 
Whatever  humor  or  fun  has  ever  attached  itself  to 
religious  matters  has  always  to  hide  itself  in  secrecy 
and  appears  only  when  the  priest  is  off  parade.  This 
is  perhaps  inevitable  with  all  matters  which  must 
be  taken  so  seriously.  But  Spiritualism  is  such  an 
incongruous  mixture  of  science  and  religion  that  a 
very  rare  and  elastic  mental  temperament  is  required 
rightly  to  adjust  the  balance  between  seriousness  and 
contempt  in  the  estimation  of  it.  One  has  only  to 
witness  a  spiritualistic  meeting  to  see  and  feel  this. 
2 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

An  intelligent  and  well-balanced  spectator  of  its  per- 
formances must  sacrifice  his  sense  of  humor  if  he 
tries  to  be  serious  and  must  possess  a  great  deal  of 
charity  if  he  succeeds  in  suppressing  his  contempt. 
Take  a  performance  in  which  some  alleged  "  medium  " 
makes  wry  faces,  as  if  in  a  trance,  and  tells  some 
naive  person  in  the  audience  that  a  spirit  standing 
by  him  predicts  that  he  will  succeed  in  the  oyster 
business  and  see  this  followed  by  the  announcement 
of  a  hymn  sung  with  the  most  solemn  gravity  or 
ecstatic  enthusiasm,  and  if  a  man  of  the  world  re- 
strains a  smile  he  has  more  of  divine  pity  than  he  is 
usually  accredited  with.  To  witness  the  conjunction 
of  a  prayer  with  the  abnormal  deliverances  of  some 
alleged  spirit  on  the  intellectual  level  of  the  ravings 
of  Ludovick  Muggleton  and  George  Fox  arouses 
strange  emotions  in  the  minds  of  men  accustomed  to 
the  more  sedate  proprieties  of  religion  and  sober  life. 
It  is  true  that  a  healthy  cynic  can  see  much  that  is 
ridiculous  in  any  of  our  solemn  performances.  It  is 
use  and  custom  that  hide  the  absurd  in  much  that 
passes  for  important  and  serious.  The  average  spir- 
itualist is  not  the  only  person  who  fails  to  appreciate 
the  funny  side  of  things  supposed  to  be  serious.  The 
same  defect  appears  in  almost  every  sanctity,  so 
small  is  the  distance  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridicu- 
lous. We  would  ridicule  the  habit  of  bowing  when 
the  name  of  the  president  is  mentioned,  but  we  expect 
to  pacify  an  angry  Deity  by  obeisance  to  the  name 
of  his  son.  We  can  solemnly  go  through  the  ritual 
and  put  on  long  faces  as  we  listen  to  some  sermon 
holding  before  us  the  menace  of  eternal  damnation 
3 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

for  not  believing  that  two  and  two  make  five  and 
then,  supposing  that  our  reverent  moods  have  atoned 
for  our  sins,  forget  all  this  at  a  dinner  of  roast 
turkey  and  a  bottle  of  claret  and  a  drive  in  Central 
Park.  There  is  nothing  like  a  fit  of  emotional  in- 
temperance for  clarifying  the  conscience. 

There  is  a  curious  situation  for  the  scientist  in 
the  pathetic  condition  of  those  who  are  seeking  con- 
solation in  some  escape  from  the  stoical  faith  of  scep- 
ticism. They  have  abandoned  their  belief  in  ortho- 
doxy, whether  from  choice  or  necessity,  and  yet  are 
determined  by  hook  or  by  crook  to  believe  in  a  future 
life,  and  having  professed  a  faith  in  science  must 
seek  some  fact  or  alleged  fact  to  simulate  the  method 
and  credentials  of  that  form  of  knowledge.  If  once 
they  have  secured  some  plausible  or  apparent  fact  to 
which  to  cling  in  their  hopes,  they  abandon  all  sense 
of  humor  and  assume  an  attitude  of  assurance,  with 
its  accompanying  state  of  consolation,  which  it  is 
impossible  to  move.  To  them  it  appears  an  act  of 
cruelty  to  tell  them  the  truth  if  it  tends  to  suggest 
a  doubt.  Having  once  cherished  doubt  as  their  sal- 
vation they  turn  on  it  now  as  an  arch  enemy,  and 
the  scientist  can  only  quote  the  maxim  of  Kant,  that 
there  are  stories  which  human  courtesy  makes  it 
impossible  to  investigate.  There  is  no  mental  atti- 
tude so  funny  as  that  which  disguises  the  search  for 
hope  and  consolation  by  the  pretensions  of  science. 
It  is  funny,  not  because  it  is  illegitimate,  but  because 
it  wants  too  frequently  the  attribute  of  courage,  and 
tries  to  secure  respectability  under  a  garb  whose 
genuineness  it  is  not  willing  to  test.  The  only  sal- 
4 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

vation  of  this  class  is  the  recovery  of  a  sense  of 
humor.  This  characteristic  was  the  beginning  of 
civilization.  The  monkey  and  the  ape  are  cases  of 
arrested  development  simply  because  they  lacked  this 
quality.  If  monkeys  could  smile  when  they  play 
practical  jokes  on  each  other  there  might  be  some 
hope  of  their  becoming  intelligent  and  civilized.  The 
average  spiritualist  who  gets  his  faith  and  consola- 
tion in  performances  like  those  at  Lily  Dale  and  On- 
set reminds  one  of  the  Darwinian  doctrine  of  the  re- 
version to  primitive  types.  I  am  not  saying  that  there 
is  nothing  genuine  in  such  places,  as  I  have  no  scien- 
tific facts  to  justify  dogmatism  in  this  matter.  But 
I  am  assured  that  even  truth  has  its  humorous  aspects, 
and  what  strikes  me  as  psychologically  interesting  in 
various  missionary  classes  of  the  genus  homo  is  the 
inability  to  appreciate  the  humorous  aspects  of  the 
seriousness  and  gravity  with  which  certain  trivial  and 
dubious  facts  are  treated.  Puns  are  sometimes  very 
funny,  but  a  scientific  treatise  on  them  would  be  still 
funnier.  I  understand  the  claims  to  seriousness  in 
these  trivial  phenomena,  but  I  cannot  restrain  a 
laugh  when  I  measure  their  character  against  what 
custom  has  agreed  to  treat  as  really  important  and 
when  I  find  myself  cornered  by  scepticism.  Of  course 
spiritualism  can  be  treated  seriously,  but  so  can 
prestidigitation.  But  when  legerdemain,  fraud  and 
spiritualism  show  decided  resemblances  in  their  phe- 
nomena I  must  be  pardoned  not  only  for  my  doubts, 
but  also  for  the  retention  of  my  sense  of  humor. 

The  class  which  I  have  just  considered  are  in  search 
of  hope  and  consolation.     But  there  is  a  class  which 
5 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

claims  to  have  them  but  which  nevertheless  betrays 
a  curious  mental  condition  regarding  psychical  re- 
search. When  it  is  not  afraid  of  disturbing  its 
orthodoxy  it  is  chiefly  interested  in  the  conditions 
of  life  in  a  future  existence  and  shows  no  interest 
in  the  strictly  scientific  problem,  but  at  once  plies 
questions  regarding  the  mode  of  life  involved.  A 
Calvinist  who  has  to  depend  on  grace  for  hope  and 
is  not  sure  that  he  is  the  favorite  of  that  grace  may 
well  feel  anxious  about  his  future  if  he  has  Jonathan 
Edward's  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  to  face. 
Any  other  sinner  who  is  afraid  that  he  is  actually 
going  to  get  his  deserts  may  want  some  hope  of 
escape  as  he  generally  tries  to  avoid  the  consequences 
of  his  crime  in  this  life.  Relief  from  fear  and  the 
hope  of  happiness,  or  escape  from  the  just  deserts 
of  one's  actions,  is  the  usual  incentive  to  curiosity 
on  this  point,  and  unfortunately  the  scientific  man 
has  to  show  Kant's  (not  scant)  courtesy  to  this  class 
because  he  hopes  to  get  from  it  an  endowment  for  his 
investigations.  If  only  he  could  safely  tell  them  that 
they  deserved  to  be  boiled  in  Milton's  marl  of  burn- 
ing sulphur  awhile  and  then  be  annihilated  he  might 
satisfy  both  his  humor  and  his  malice.  But  then 
in  addition  to  the  strange  spectacle  of  asking  for  un- 
verifiable  statements  as  a  basis  for  hope  and  consola- 
tion or  immunity  from  the  consequences  of  folly, 
irony  and  truth-telling  may  tighten  the  purse  strings 
of  benevolence  and  scientific  curiosity  and  we  have 
to  play  the  tactful  part  of  Mephistopheles  in  order 
to  secure  any  favors  at  all. 

Then  there  is  the  large  class  made  up  of  the  aver- 
6 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

age  religious  person,  the  scientific  Philistine,  and  a 
goodly  portion  of  the  so-called  intelligent  public, 
which  thinks  that  spirits  in  their  high  estate  would 
never  interest  themselves  in  such  trivial  matters  as 
purport  to  come  from  them  in  our  alleged  "  communi- 
cations." But  it  never  occurs  to  this  class  to  observe 
the  conversation  that  goes  on  at  a  Columbia  College 
tea,  for  instance.  I  had  a  colleague  who  stands  high 
in  the  ranks  of  science  and  who  thinks  it  absurd  that 
a  spirit  would  talk  about  a  jack  knife,  but  in  a 
social  reception  of  dignitaries  his  share  in  the  bad- 
inage and  small  talk  would  hardly  distinguish  him 
from  a  bootblack  or  street  gamin  except  that  his 
dialect  is  not  the  same  as  Chimmie  Fadden's.  Puns, 
jokes,  trivialities  are  all  very  nice  if  they  are  not 
the  speech  of  spirits.  Even  scepticism  cannot  doubt 
the  solemnity  of  a  transcendental  life.  The  fact  is, 
however,  that  we  are  wont  to  adjudge  that  serious 
and  important  which  is  either  of  a  religious  char- 
acter or  connected  with  the  employments  which  give 
us  our  bread  or  fame.  We  are  very  sober  and  sol- 
emn when  we  read  our  papers  on  a  scientific  subject 
when  all  the  incidencts  are  as  trivial  as  anything 
ever  attributed  to  an  idiotic  ghost,  and  when  we 
are  put  at  the  end  of  a  telegraph  or  telephone  line 
to  prove  our  identity  we  spontaneously  select  the 
trivial  to  identify  ourselves  and  then  wonder  and 
laugh  at  the  degeneracy  of  spirits!  We  should  re- 
member, however,  that  we  always  estimate  a  thing 
by  its  relation  to  our  pleasures,  so  that  we  look 
grave  and  call  a  fact  important  when  we  are  talking 
science  and  philosophy  and  call  it  trivial  when  we 
7 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

wish  to  laugh  about  it.  We  have  to  put  conscience 
and  gravity  into  some  things  when  our  bread  and 
fame  are  concerned,  but  we  relax  our  scientific  spirit 
when  we  do  not  understand  a  subject  sufficiently  to 
distinguish  between  its  serious  and  humorous  inci- 
dents. We  expect  to  prove  our  sanity  by  laughing 
where  we  are  ignorant.  When  we  do  not  wish  to 
be  bored  we  can  laugh  down  the  missionary  who  is 
resolved  to  save  our  souls  at  the  expense  of  our  sense 
of  humor.  The  case  resolves  itself  into  this.  When 
one  party  determines  to  be  serious  the  other  wants 
to  be  funny,  and  vice  versa.  It  is  a  question  of 
respectability  on  the  one  hand  and  indifference  to 
the  public  on  the  other,  and  neither  party  can  pool 
its  issues  without  attempting  an  incongruous  mix- 
ture of  a  smile  and  a  tear.  The  trivial  of  one  is 
the  important  of  the  other,  and  social  respectability 
is  the  primary  consideration  of  the  one  while  Mr. 
Vanderbilt's  opinion  is  the  maxim  of  the  other.  The 
cynic  can  have  his  fun  with  both. 

Some  personal  incidents  may  have  an  interest  for 
the  reader.  Soon  after  presenting  a  paper  on  the 
Piper  case  in  which  I  defended  the  spiritistic  hy- 
pothesis I  received  a  letter  from  a  lady  in  a  neigh- 
boring state  saying  that  she  had  recently  lost  a 
little  son  by  death.  The  doctor  had  told  her  that 
his  heart  had  stopped  beating,  and  he  was  buried 
in  a  vault,  and  as  she  had  heard  from  the  newspapers 
that  I  could  raise  the  dead  she  wished  that  I  would 
be  so  kind  as  to  restore  her  son  to  life.  She  was 
willing  to  do  much  for  me  if  I  did.  But  I  was  too 
busy  at  the  time  with  the  more  important  work  of 
8 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

talking  to  students  to  resuscitate  anybody's  heart- 
beat, and  I  suppose  that  boy  is  still  dead.  The  inci- 
dent is,  of  course,  more  pathetic  than  it  is  funny,  but 
I  fear  that  the  poor  woman's  impression  as  learned 
from  the  newspapers  was  quite  pardonable.  That 
craft  seems  never  to  get  any  nearer  the  truth  than 
this  poor  woman.  Anything  could  be  believed  if 
newspaper  accounts  were  reliable.  The  amusing  part 
of  the  editorial  profession  of  the  sensational  kind  is 
the  assumption  of  its  intelligence.  Men  whose  only 
title  to  recognition  is  their  financial  success  in  pan- 
dering to  the  appetite  for  divorce  scandals  and 
political  lying  somehow  suppose  that  they  can  de- 
scribe and  discuss  all  manner  of  questions.  One  of 
them  in  reviewing  his  life  is  said  to  have  remarked 
to  a  friend  that  in  his  earlier  career  he  had  tried 
morality  (Brook  Farm)  and  failed  and  then  tried 
the  part  of  Mephistopheles  and  found  that  he  had 
succeeded. 

Here  are  two  incidents  associated  with  editors  of 
a  somewhat  different  type  who  could  be  expected  to 
have  an  interest  which  the  writer  for  the  secular 
journals  might  not  have. 

The  editor  of  one  of  the  widely  circulated  religious 
weeklies  had  apparently  been  interested  in  psychical 
research  for  years.  He  had  accepted  articles  from 
me  and  others  on  the  subject  for  ten  or  more  years, 
and  had  boasted  to  me  personally  that  his  paper  had 
stood  up  for  our  work.  He  has  actually  solicited 
papers  from  me  and  others  on  this  question,  and 
hence  presuming  that  he  would  be  willing  to  help 
along  the  project  of  securing  financial  aid  for  such 
9 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

investigations  I  recently  approached  him  to  support 
the  plan  by  some  editorial  suggestions  without  any 
committal  to  theories  of  any  kind.  The  man  looked 
at  me  in  bewilderment  as  if  to  say,  "  Psychical  re- 
search, psychical  research,  what  is  that?  "  Recover- 
ing his  recollections  he  suddenly  knit  his  eyebrows 
and  exclaimed :  "  Oh,  yes !  Wasn't  it  a  Mrs.  Piper 
who  gave  some  silly  stuff  that  was  said  to  be  com- 
munications from  spirits  some  time  ago  ?  "  I  replied, 
"  Yes,  and  its  silliness  is  the  strongest  part  of  our 
argument."  He  was  somewhat  abashed  at  this  audac- 
ity, but  the  interesting  part  of  it  to  me,  besides  my 
own  plight,  was  the  editor's  real  and  complete  indif- 
ference to  the  whole  subject  in  spite  of  his  years  of 
apparent  interest  in  it.  His  real  concern  when  his 
day's  duties  are  over  is  Babylonian  antiquities !  Here 
is  a  man  whom  the  public  would  suppose  interested  in 
all  matters  affecting  the  fundamentals  of  religion, 
but  who  in  fact  simply  takes  advantage  of  a  popular 
appetite  for  articles  on  various  topics  of  a  religious, 
political,  literary  and  scientific  character  to  gain  the 
facility  for  retiring  to  his  library  where  he  may 
spend  his  hours  on  cuneiform  inscriptions  and  prob- 
lems bordering  on  the  region  of  mythology!  Prob- 
lems connected  with  the  possible  question  of  a  future 
life  were  indeed  worth  a  passing  notice,  especially 
if  the  public  demanded  an  article  on  them,  but  they 
are  nothing  compared  with  those  associated  with  the 
"  higher  criticism  "  which  is  taking  the  underpinning 
from  the  very  interest  which  he  was  supposed  to 
support  and  could  only  coddle  for  its  remunerative 
advantages.  Whatever  there  may  be  of  the  serious 
10 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

in  this  it  is  certainly  quite  as  amusing,  and  a  psychical 
researcher  with  a  sense  of  humor  would  have  to  laugh 
at  the  discomfiture  which  he  meets  at  the  hands  of 
supposed  friends,  who  in  reality  are  merely  interested 
in  exploiting  him  for  some  concealed  and  collateral 
object. 

The  editor  of  the  rival  religious  weekly  to  which 
I  have  just  referred  was  the  pastor  of  a  large  met- 
ropolitan church  and  resigned  from  it  to  devote  his 
whole  time  to  editorial  duties.  He  has  been  of  the 
rationalistic  temperament  and  has  accepted  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  "  higher  criticism "  which  effectually 
undermines  the  whole  popular  system  of  Christianity 
and  shows  that  there  is  not  one  iota  of  rational 
evidence  for  many  of  the  most  essential  doctrines  of 
religion.  Apparently  this  editor  felt  this,  for  after 
I  had  delivered  my  address  on  the  Piper  case  and 
the  newspapers  had  given  their  wonderful  version 
of  the  affair,  he  sent  for  me  to  lunch  with  him  and 
talk  the  matter  over.  I  did  so  and  he  was  much 
interested  apparently  in  the  problem  and  the  facts 
supposed  to  bear  upon  it.  I  was  careful  to  tell  him 
that  he  could  form  no  intelligent  opinion  from  what 
we  had  talked  about  over  a  lunch  and  that  he  should 
await  a  full  report.  He  expressed  his  desire  to  see 
it  when  published.  As  soon  as  it  was  out,  remember- 
ing my  promise,  I  sent  him  a  copy  of  my  Report. 
Some  months  after  I  called  upon  him  for  the  same 
purpose  that  moved  me  in  the  interview  with  the 
editor  previously  mentioned.  I  asked  this  purveyor 
of  the  world's  weekly  outlook  who  had  been  so  anxious 
to  see  my  Report  if  he  had  received  it.  He  said  that 
11 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

he  had  not.  I  told  him  that  I  had  sent  it  to  him,  and 
on  scratching  his  head  his  memory  vaguely  recalled 
that  something  of  the  kind  had  come  to  him.  After 
a  little  more  scratching  he  felt  quite  certain  that  he 
had  received  it,  but  remarked  that  he  had  not  looked 
at  it ! !  I  managed  to  face  the  embarrassing  situation 
and  to  approach  the  subject  for  which  I  came  to  ask 
assistance,  and  to  anticipate  the  first  objection  which 
most  men  raise  in  the  consideration  of  our  problem,  I 
remarked  that  he  would  probably  have  to  meet  the 
question  of  triviality  in  his  reading  of  the  Report  and 
that  this  was  the  strongest  point  in  our  theory  instead 
of  being  an  objection.  His  immediate  reply  was: 
"  Do  you  think  it  is  worth  while  continuing  the  inves- 
tigation when  the  communications  are  so  trivial?  " 
And  this  just  after  I  had  remarked  that  this  fact  was 
our  strongest  point!  Of  course  there  was  probably 
a  difference  of  opinion  lurking  behind  this  evasion  of 
my  issue,  but  what  interested  me  most  was  the  un- 
conscious assumption  on  his  part  that  we  ought  to 
have  some  important  revelation  perhaps  of  the  con- 
ditions of  existence  after  death,  as  if  he  had  some 
scruples  about  the  future  consequences  of  his  aban- 
donment of  the  ministry.  What  visions  of  Dante's 
Inferno  must  pass  through  the  minds  of  men  who 
want  to  know  whether  spirits  are  happy  or  not. 
The  more  I  see  of  them  the  more  I  think  they  deserve 
all  they  fear,  and  I  am  quite  willing  to  endure  all 
sorts  of  embarrassments  and  humilities  if  only  I  can 
secure  a  correct  estimate  of  human  nature  and  life. 
One  thing  is  clear.  When  you  find  it  necessary  to 
give  up  orthodoxy  it  is  very  important  in  the  struggle 
12 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH" 

for  existence  and  pursuit  of  the  main  chance  that 
we  should  interest  ourselves  fanatically  in  the  social 
problem,  as  a  most  convenient  subterfuge  under  which 
we  may  protect  our  property  against  the  avarice  of 
the  masses.  When  we  cannot  control  them  by  the 
hope  of  a  future  life  and  the  morality  which  has 
been  associated  with  it  we  can  counteract  the  influ- 
ence of  the  economical  ideal  which  has  taken  its  place 
by  diversions  of  charity  and  Fabian  tactics  which 
simply  postpone  the  day  of  judgment  and  keep  us 
for  awhile  in  the  enjoyment  of  what  we  call  our 
share  of  the  hog's  wash. 

A  publisher  who  showed  great  interest  in  psychical 
research  from  the  foundation  of  the  Society  and  who 
has  published  some  volumes  of  a  popular  sort  on  the 
subject  quite  lost  his  interest  in  it  when  a  few  mem- 
bers suspected  that  spiritism  might  actually  explain 
some  of  the  phenomena.  He  had  seen  table  tipping 
himself  and  witnessed  all  sorts  of  miracles,  provided 
one  did  not  choose  to  believe  it  was  spirits ! !  My  Re- 
port had  been  on  his  table  six  months  without  his 
knowing  what  it  was  about,  and  even  then  I  had  to 
call  his  attention  to  its  nature.  The  public  will  have 
to  decide  whether  the  joke  was  on  him  or  myself.  It 
will  probably  laugh  at  both  of  us. 

I  went  to  the  editor  of  one  of  our  leading  monthly 
magazines  to  propose  an  article  on  an  interesting  case 
of  subconscious  mental  action.  It  was  without  any 
trace  of  the  supernatural  in  it  and  I  told  him  so.  But 
in  spite  of  this  his  knowledge  of  what  I  had  said  in 
three  articles  on  psychical  research  in  his  magazine 
kept  him  from  seeing  the  point  and  he  could  not  im- 
13 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

agine  me  as  thinking  of  anything  but  spirits.  He 
had  himself  once  been  a  member  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  and  told  me  that  he  had  abandoned 
it  because  it  became  too  scientific  for  his  contribu- 
tions. In  the  process  of  time  he  had  become  convinced 
that  his  earlier  expectations  were  not  destined  to  im- 
mediate realization,  and  on  this  occasion  of  my  visit  to 
talk  over  an  article  he  undertook  to  deliver  himself  of 
his  newly  acquired  convictions  as  a  dictum  which  gov- 
erned his  editorial  work  in  this  field.  With  great 
gravity  and  dignity,  using  as  slow  and  deliberate  a 
manner  as  he  could,  he  said :  "  I  have  studied  this 
subject  a  great  many  years  and  I  have  finally  come 
to  the.  conclusion  that  it  is  all  psychological.  All 
the  wonder  that  is  in  it  is  the  wonder  of  the  human 
mind."  Here  is  an  editor  looking  for  miracles  as  a 
condition  of  being  interested  in  facts  at  all!  The 
grave  proclamation  that  psychical  research  was  all 
"  psychological "  was  not  to  be  disputed,  but  the 
condition  of  impressing  the  man  with  any  interest 
in  facts  was  that  I  convince  him  that  they  were  not 
"  psychological "  and  that  I  be  a  vendor  of  the 
miraculous  as  the  only  title  to  consideration  in  his 
periodical.  It  is  not  the  wonderful  in  this  problem 
that  gives  it  its  claim  to  recognition,  but  it  is  the 
perfect  explicability  of  its  phenomena  on  a  simple 
hypothesis  that  demands  the  respect  of  the  sane 
human  mind.  Neither  philosophy  nor  science  is 
founded  on  the  "  wonderful,"  but  only  superstition 
has  such  a  basis,  and  the  wonder-monger  in  literature 
playing  the  role  of  a  scientist  to  save  his  respecta- 
14 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

bility  hardly   conceals   an   intellectual   standard  that 
is  any  better  than  that  of  the  savage. 

Another  instance  has  much  interest.  Soon  after 
I  burned  my  bridges  behind  me  in  my  speech  on 
psychic  research  and  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  in 
1900  at  a  meeting  in  New  York,  I  received  a  letter 
from  a  prominent  clergyman,  one  of  the  leading  men 
in  the  United  States,  expressing  entire  confidence  in 
my  attitude  in  regard  to  the  investigation.  Some 
years  later,  when  endeavoring  to  secure  an  endow- 
ment for  this  research  I  wrote  to  him  and  explained 
my  plans  to  him  and  he  replied  with  a  letter  not  only 
indicating  his  sympathy  but  also  saying  that  he  would 
try  to  obtain  the  fund  and  that,  if  I  did  not  hear 
from  him  soon,  I  might  infer  that  he  had  been  unsuc- 
cessful. I  wrote  saying  that  my  plan  was  a  large 
one  and  that  he  had  better  not  do  anything  until 
he  saw  me  personally  and  talked  over  the  scheme. 
When  I  returned  to  the  city  he  asked  me  by  letter 
to  send  him  the  names  and  indorsements  of  two  or 
three  good  men  of  scientific  standing.  I  obtained 
the  names  of  fifteen  leading  scientific  men  in  the  coun- 
try as  indorsers  of  the  plan  and  sent  their  letters 
to  this  clergyman  with  a  detailed  explanation  of  the 
scheme.  The  clergyman's  reply  was  that  he  was  great- 
ly obliged  for  the  opportunity  to  read  the  documents, 
but  that  he  did  not  know  any  one  to  whom  he  could 
appeal  for  assistance !  His  own  wife  was  worth  many 
millions,  according  to  the  general  belief,  and  the 
clergyman  himself  was  in  contact  with  all  the  mil- 
lionaires of  the  eastern  part  of  the  country.  His 
15 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

interest  in  spiritual  matters  was  manifested  in  the 
organization  of  model  saloons. 

In  the  Ninth  Edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica  there  is  no  article  on  the  "  Soul,"  and  none  on  its 
Immortality.  I  can  understand  why  these  subjects 
should  not  be  mentioned  in  the  reports  of  the  Stock 
Exchange  or  in  railway  time  tables.  But  one  would 
have  thought  the  Britannica  might  mention  a  subject 
on  which  Plato  and  Christianity  said  so  much.  There 
are,  however,  seven  pages  on  "  Dogs,"  a  thing  that 
may  not  be  surprising  when  we  consider  that  our 
aristocratic  classes  are  more  interested  in  breeding 
dogs  than  children.  Horse  racing  takes  up  seven 
pages.  On  Beer,  Whiskey,  Wine,  and  Gin  together 
there  are  twenty-three  pages,  which  is  at  least  one 
recognition  of  the  "  spiritual "  side  of  man.  No 
wonder  a  head  of  the  church  tried  model  saloons. 
Whist  has  five  pages,  and  Abracadabra,  Anagrams, 
Astrology  and  similar  things  are  not  forgotten.  An- 
atomy has  one  hundred  and  nine  pages,  but  not  a 
line  on  that  which  makes  anatomy  interesting  or  im- 
portant. Angling  has  twelve  pages  and  Apes  have 
twenty-one !  The  study  of  our  simian  ancestry  is 
respectable ;  of  our  spiritual  destiny  it  is  a  mark  of  in- 
sanity ! 

But  I  think  it  is  the  soi^disant  scientist  who  offers 
as  much  for  amusement  as  any  other  class.  At  a 
recent  symposium  on  the  subject  of  psychical  re- 
search and  its  chief  Pythoness  one  of  the  participants 
thought  that  the  spiritist  had  to  contend  with  the 
hypothesis  that  Mrs.  Piper's  "  subliminal  "  might  be 
the  recipient  telepathically  of  all  the  mental  states 
16 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

of  any  or  all  people  during  her  lifetime,  so  that  when 
any  particular  person  died  she  had  only  in  her  trance 
state  to  pick  out  the  proper  names  and  incidents 
to  represent  any  given  case  of  identity.  Another 
asserted  that  "  the  ether  fairly  teems  with  the  vibrat- 
ing thoughts  of  the  bygone  ages  and  all  that  is 
necessary  to  become  possessed  of  this  store  of  univer- 
sal knowledge  is  to  become  sensitive  to  ether  vibra- 
tions, and  learn  how  to  translate  them  into  ordinary 
language." 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  deny  these  claims.  I  have 
no  unscientific  prejudice  against  miracles.  I  do  not 
wish  to  put  myself  in  a  position  which  may  require 
me  later  to  "  eat  crow."  I  agree  that,  if  there  are 
any  such  impressions  recorded  in  the  ether,  all  wc 
have  to  do  is  to  become  sensitive  to  them  and  trans- 
late them  into  ordinary  language,  only  I  am  waiting 
for  it  to  be  a  fait  accompli  before  I  take  up  the 
duties  of  a  missionary  for  that  religion.  But  what 
strikes  one  as  amusing  is  the  gravity  of  the  assertions 
thus  made  and  the  total  absence  of  evidence  for  them. 
You  would  think  that  a  man  who  wanted  to  be  re- 
garded as  scientific  would  give  at  least  an  iota  of 
evidence  for  beliefs  of  this  kind  which  are  not  even 
put  on  the  plane  of  possible  working  hypotheses. 
These  men  too  are  always  shouting  from  the  house- 
tops while  announcing  such  large  creeds  that  they  do 
not  believe  in  the  supernatural !  The  "  supernatural  " 
is  a  Medusa  head  on  which  they  cannot  look  and 
live.  To  them  everything  is  "  natural,"  except  spir- 
its. You  can  believe  anything  with  impunity  and 
without  evidence  provided  this  something  is  not  a 
17 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

spirit!  They  may  be  perfectly  right  so  far  as 
I  know,  but  it  is  certainly  a  humorous  situation  to 
have  the  most  exacting  demands  for  evidence  made 
of  you  in  the  mere  testing  of  hypotheses  which  you 
do  not  know  whether  to  believe  or  not  and  thus  to 
find  yourself  required  to  refute  theories  which  do 
not  pretend  to  have  evidence  in  their  support  and 
which  are  about  as  large  as  anything  Jules  Verne 
ever  imagined.  So  far  as  I  can  see,  "  science "  in 
this  procedure  is  simply  any  large  unverified  asser- 
tion which  is  not  in  any  way  associated  with  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  discarnate  human  consciousness.  Any 
myth,  any  tradition,  any  fancy  can  be  accepted 
without  a  smile  of  incredulity,  if  we  can  succeed 
in  escaping  from  responsibility  for  evidential  obliga- 
tions, and  apparently  no  one  has  duties  of  this  kind 
but  the  believer  in  the  possibility  of  the  continuance 
of  human  consciousness.  Faith  is  said  to  be  the 
Nemesis  of  scepticism,  and  so  it  seems.  But  here 
it  is  not  religion  that  has  taken  refuge  in  this  last 
resource.  Spiritism  pretends  to  offer  some  little  evi- 
dence for  itself,  even  if  it  be  very  trivial.  But 
"  science  "  offers  us  no  other  credentials  than  a  simple 
act  of  faith  for  Mrs.  Piper's  telepathic  recipience 
of  all  contemporary  states  of  consciousness,  or  for  the 
infinite  record  of  human  thoughts  on  the  ether.  This 
may  be  true,  of  course,  but  the  situation  is  one  which 
is  calculated  to  provoke  one's  risibilities,  not  so  much 
for  the  magnitude  of  what  we  are  asked  to  believe 
on  either  side,  as  for  the  gravity  with  which  such 
questions  are  discussed  apart  from  the  presentation 
of  evidence,  and  with  an  evident  fear  that  we  shall 
18 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

be  converted  to  some  belief  before  our  neighbor's 
respect  will  permit.  It  appears  that  our  denial  of 
a  doctrine  is  directly  proportioned  to  our  wishes  that 
it  be  true  and  to  the  demand  for  social  respectability. 

One  man  who  wants  us  to  take  him  seriously  says: 
"  If  telepathy,  or  thought  transference,  had  even  the 
slightest  microscopic  foundation  in  fact,  it  would  be 
instantly  commercialized  as  a  rival  of  telegraphy, 
telephony,  and  even  the  postal  service."  One  may  be 
welcome  to  his  opinion  of  the  facts,  but  if  he  had  only 
said  that,  if  there  were  any  "  microscopic  "  evidence 
for  the  existence  of  ghosts,  we  would  use  them  for  our 
locomotives  and  messenger  boys,  he  might  have  em- 
phasized the  irrelevancy  of  his  remark.  Another  of- 
fered $1,000  for  an  instance  of  telepathy  and  simply 
sat  down  in  his  laboratory  to  wait  for  some  one  to 
come  along  to  convince  him.  He  never  thought  of 
trying  experiments  for  himself!  He  was  a  "scient- 
ist "  of  the  chair ! 

The  trouble  is  that  science  has  taken  on  all  the 
unction  and  seriousness  of  religion  without  the  latter's 
ideals,  and  religion,  for  the  lack  of  the  necessary  cre- 
dentials has  to  mourn,  like  Hecuba,  for  the  loss  of  her 
children. 

But  just  where  the  situation  seems  most  pathetic 
it  becomes  comical.  Man  is  an  animal  that  wishes 
to  be  taken  very  seriously.  Except  among  the  en- 
thusiasts of  scientific  evolution  he  systematically  tries 
to  conceal  the  humility  of  his  origin  while  he  endeavors 
to  play  the  role  of  an  aristocrat  and  a  demigod.  He 
cultivates  the  manners  of  a  gentleman  to  purchase 
the  respect  of  his  neighbors  and  indulges  the  illusion 
19 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  self-respect  to  simulate  the  possession  of  virtue 
while  he  has  various  habits  of  intemperance  which  ally 
him  to  the  lowliest  of  his  ancestors.  If  he  can  fill 
his  stomach  and  dress  himself  well  without  pushing 
others  over  a  precipice,  he  calls  his  social  order  civili- 
zation, but  he  is  vociferous  in  his  maledictions  against 
the  cosmos  if  it  is  not  moral  enough  to  satisfy  all 
his  appetites.  But  he  has  a  chief  end,  and  he  calls 
it  an  ideal  and  this  is  just  various  enough  to  conceal 
its  meaning.  He  invents  morality  and  religion  either 
to  disguise  or  to  redeem  his  selfishness  and  hypocrisy. 
He  loudly  proclaims  the  importance  of  life  and  im- 
mortality and  would  have  you  believe  that  his  exist- 
ence in  this  world  has  no  value  without  the  prospect 
of  another,  if  only  he  can  have  it  his  own  way.  Even 
the  philosopher  Kant  thought  that  a  future  life  was 
demanded  by  the  existence  of  an  insatiable  duty  which 
the  conditions  of  the  present  life  made  it  impossible 
to  realize  or  obey  in  full.  Thus  the  center  of  aspira- 
tion and  conduct  is  placed  beyond  the  grave.  But 
how  are  men  in  fact  interested  in  it?  One  wants  to 
know  if  he  can  continue  his  cherished  pursuits  in 
some  form  and  would  not  be  contented  unless  he  could 
enjoy  music  or  poetry:  another  hopes  to  escape  the 
duties  of  work,  and,  like  the  Greeks  who  so  hated 
"  toil  and  pain,"  expects  to  ramble  unrestrained  in 
the  flowery  meads  of  Paradise.  One  wants  to  meet 
his  wife,  but  neglects  the  possibility  of  meeting  his 
neighbor  whom  he  has  cheated  out  of  his  property; 
another  would  appreciate  it  if  he  could  avoid  the 
survival  of  Turks  and  Chinamen.  The  Australian 
savage,  admiring  the  Englishman's  complexion  and 

go 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

the  advantages  of  his  pocketbook,  hoped  that  in  the 
resurrection  he  should  wake  up  a  white  man  and  have 
plenty  of  sixpences.  The  old  Northmen  thought  that 
the  heroes  of  Valhalla  were  occupied  in  hewing  down 
shadows  which  immediately  started  up  again  to  renew 
their  ceaseless  and  bloodless  conflicts.  The  modern 
religious  man,  though  passionately  devoted  to  demo- 
cratic and  republican  institutions  with  their  axiom 
of  equality,  still  expresses  his  ideal  in  the  expectation 
of  living  in  a  golden  city  and  bowing  and  worship- 
ing before  the  great  white  throne.  But  all  of  these 
expect  to  treat  the  future  life  as  a  surplus  to  be 
gained  over  and  above  success  of  some  sort  in  the 
struggle  for  existence.  The  rich  man  whose  enjoy- 
ments have  been  intensified  and  expanded  by  his 
wealth,  and  who  has  no  anxieties  except  those  that 
are  the  consequences  of  his  vices,  hopes,  perhaps  more 
keenly  than  the  pauper,  for  the  continuance  of  his 
pleasures,  but  would  not  care  for  another  life  if  it 
brought  him  duties  toward  his  fellows.  In  fact  I 
find  very  few  people  interested  in  a  future  life  on 
moral  or  religious  grounds.  These  are  only  terms 
that  try  to  transfigure  a  personal  interest  as  various 
as  human  nature.  The  primary  object  of  men  is 
success  in  some  ambition,  and  this  in  most  cases  is 
material  enjoyment  and  social  standing.  If  a  future 
life  can  come  as  an  additional  good  to  all  that  can 
be  won  by  hook  or  crook  in  business  it  is  welcome 
provided  it  imposes  no  duties  of  a  moral  or  religious 
kind.  The  successful  man  wants  it  as  a  dividend 
on  which  his  transactions  did  not  count  and  the  un- 
successful man  wants  it  as  a  compensation  for  his 
21 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

failure.  Between  them  is  a  pessimistic  class  that 
is  soured  and  disappointed  by  the  present,  always 
telling  us  that  life  is  not  worth  living,  but  that  has 
not  the  courage  to  commit  suicide !  Then  there  is  a 
scientific  body  of  men  who  are  simply  dying  to  believe 
in  the  continuance  of  consciousness  after  death  but 
spend  their  time  in  devising  imaginary  difficulties 
and  objections  to  keep  their  neighbors  from  calling 
names  and  to  insure  their  respectability.  They  invent 
innumerable  phrases  and  shibboleths  to  evade  the 
plainest  and  most  intelligible  possibilities.  From  fear 
of  social  ostracism  they  cannot  even  admit  that  the 
case  looks  like  a  future  life  and  then  doubt  the  proof 
of  it,  but  must  coin  unintelligible  terms  and  "  might 
be's  "  to  cover  up  an  interest  that  they  have  not  the 
courage  to  avow  and  to  sustain  the  pretension  that 
there  is  nothing  to  be  said  on  any  other  side  of  the 
question  than  that  of  words  whose  meaning  is  still 
undetermined. 

This  is  the  complex  situation  which  the  psychical 
researcher  has  to  meet,  and  woe  unto  him  if  he  has 
no  sense  of  humor.  If  in  the  contemplation  of  all 
this  he  cannot  judiciously  mix  laughter  and  tears  he 
is  not  to  be  pitied  for  any  discomfiture  he  experiences. 
He  must  take  his  fellows  on  the  estimate  which  evolu- 
tion makes  and  this  involves  a  measure  of  contempt 
quite  equal  to  the  pride  and  self -appreciation  which 
they  wish  to  cultivate.  If  he  is  sensitive  to  ridicule 
and  wants  the  respect  of  his  kind  he  must  learn  to 
keep  silent,  but  if  any  terrible  earnestness  blinds 
him  to  the  bigotry  and  dogmatism  of  established  opin- 
ions, quite  equal  to  the  despised  doctrines  of  the  dark 


HUMOROUS    ASPECTS    OF    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH 

ages,  or  induces  him  to  recognize  a  pathos  in  human 
existence  which  a  deeper  moral  insight  does  not  jus- 
tify, he  must  take  the  consequences  of  public  med- 
dling in  any  mixture  of  science  and  religion.  But 
some  of  us  like  to  hear  the  lion  roar  and  take  a 
malicious  delight  in  exhibiting  human  nature  and 
opinion  at  their  real  value,  whether  found  in  the 
fool,  the  newspaper  editor,  the  scientist,  or  the  phi- 
losopher. There  is  no  use  in  being  a  preacher  when 
you  can  get  a  good  deal  of  fun  out  of  meddling  with 
the  self-complacency  of  those  who  think  they  possess 
universal  knowledge.  This  class  also  has  to  earn 
its  bread  and  if  it  lacks  the  perception  of  its  own 
foibles  and  follies  we  must  let  it  alone  or  get  our 
pleasures  out  of  judicious  modes  of  tormenting  it. 
The  process  of  evolution  would  be  pathetic  enough 
if  man  were  what  he  thinks  himself.  But  what  we  call 
our  ideals  are  euphemisms  for  our  vices.  Life  is 
not  a  tragedy.  I  wish  it  were.  We  might  then  hope 
that  man  would  get  his  deserts.  It  is  merely  a  comedy 
in  which  idealism  has  no  functions.  When  the  psy- 
chical researcher  realizes  this  he  will  temper  his  en- 
thusiasm, laugh  at  the  humorous  helplessness  of  his 
own  situation,  and  seek  an  enjoyment  in  disturbing 
the  complacent  equanimity  of  science  and  philosophy 
by  a  discreet  use  of  irony  and  satire. 


CHAPTER  II 

PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

From  time  immemorial  coincidences  have  been  ob- 
jects of  uncommon  human  interest  and  curiosity. 
The  discovery  of  them  still  leads,  as  it  always  has  led, 
to  all  sorts  of  superstitions.  They  survive  to  be  re- 
marked even  by  those  who  laugh  at  them.  If  a  knife 
falls  on  the  floor  a  stranger  may  be  expected.  Hun- 
dreds of  such  '  signs,'  originating  from  the  observa- 
tion of  chance  coincidences,  are  at  the  constant  com- 
mand of  the  average  man  or  woman,  whether  believed 
or  ridiculed.  Another  class  of  coincidences  which  are 
more  striking  appeals  to  the  instinct  for  special  prov- 
idences, mysterious  meaning  or  supernatural  explana- 
tion of  some  kind.  They  are  often  sufficiently  strik- 
ing and  respectably  authenticated  to  puzzle  wise  heads 
for  a  means  to  dislodge  the  impression  of  their  real 
or  possible  causal  significance.  The  collection  and 
preservation  of  them  by  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  no  matter  what  we  may  think  of  them,  has 
done  much  to  strengthen  the  interest  and  belief  in 
the  possible  meaning  of  such  phenomena,  especially 
when  they  take  a  certain  form.  The  scientific  or 
even  quasi-scientific  investigation  of  such  things  in- 
vests them  with  an  importance  that  would  not  belong 
to  them  naturally,  and  that  would  make  little  impres- 
sion upon  the  organized  power  of  scientific  opinion 
unless  equally  organized  and  sustained.  But  it  is 
24 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

not  necessary  to  warn  scientific  men  against  treating 
coincidences  seriously.  They  are  proof  enough 
against  that  temptation. 

There  is,  however,  a  complaint  which  I  have  to 
make  against  them.  It  is  not  for  remissness  in  their 
allegiance  to  scientific  method,  but  for  an  unnecessary 
failure  to  apply  it  as  fully  as  it  might  be  done  in  a 
field  where  the  term  *  coincidence '  gives  rise  to  very 
different  illusions.  There  are  6  coincidences '  and 
'  coincidences.'  Not  that  I  shall  here  beg  any  ques- 
tions as  to  the  important  significance  of  any  of  them 
for  the  supernatural  or  for  anything  resembling  it, 
but  that  some  are  undoubtedly  more  suggestive  of 
the  need  of  a  causal  explanation  than  others. 

Hence  I  shall  make  a  distinction  between  two  kinds 
of  coincidences.  The  first  I  shall  call  formal  or  un- 
suggestive  and  the  second  material  or  suggestive  coin- 
cidences. I  intend  no  mysterious  meaning  or  distinc- 
tion by  the  terms  '  formal '  and  '  material.'  They 
represent  only  the  difference  between  coincidences  that 
are  mere  coincidences  and  coincidences  that  also  have 
some  identity  of  content  more  or  less  of  a  striking 
and  suggestive  character.  The  distinction  is  perhaps 
the  same  as  that  between  what  we  call  casual  or  chance 
coincidences  and  causal  or  significant  coincidences. 
An  illustration  of  the  former  kind  is  that  of  an  un- 
expected meeting  of  two  friends  at  a  great  distance 
from  their  usual  habitat  and  without  any  previous 
knowledge  of  each  other's  movements.  Of  the  second 
kind  is  perhaps  the  case  of  absolutely  identical 
thoughts  under  circumstances  which  do  not  superfi- 
cially explain  the  identity,  but  which  may  be  traced 
25 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

to  association  awakened  by  some  object  having  a 
common  interest  or  connected  with  a  common  ex- 
perience. In  the  first  class  belong  all  those  conjunc- 
tions of  things  that  do  not  involve  the  concerted  or 
purposive  action  of  the  subjects  experiencing  them 
and  not  involving  any  such  identity  of  content  or 
adaptive  fitness  of  several  events  to  a  single  end. 
In  the  latter  class  belong  all  those  coincidences  that 
involve  either  concerted  action  or  common  known  and 
unknown  causes.  The  average  scientific  man,  how- 
ever, too  often  lumps  all  coincidences  together  indis- 
criminately, making  the  conception  a  hard-and-fast 
one  and  convertible  with  that  of  causeless  connections. 
But  there  are  traces  of  cowardice  and  equivocation 
in  this  attitude  of  mind  or  a  priori  method  of  treating 
phenomena  that  too  often  prevent  the  scientific  man 
from  recognizing  in  some  coincidences  a  causal  nexus 
of  a  very  interesting  kind,  though  not  of  the  sort 
alleged  by  the  supernaturalist  and  coincidence-mong- 
ers generally.  Not  to  make  the  distinction,  therefore, 
which  I  have  made  between  the  mere  fact  of  coinci- 
dence and  the  coincidence  of  content,  is  an  error  that 
leads  to  an  unscientific  treatment  of  such  problems 
and  prevents  a  search  for  obscure  causes  that  are  quite 
within  the  reach  of  normal  psychology  or  recognized 
agencies. 

In  remarking  this  error  to  which  the  scientist  often 
exposes  himself  I  have  in  mind  a  defect  of  Parish's 
very  able  criticism  of  the  Census  of  Hallucinations. 
I  do  not  mean,  however,  to  use  this  defect  either  as 
a  defense  of  psychical  research  or  as  an  impeachment 
of  his  method  of  criticism.     On  the  contrary,  no  one 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

can  read  that  book  without  being  convinced  of  its 
cogency  and  importance,  if  he  did  not  know  it  before. 
In  addition  to  this  concession,  the  defect  which  I  wish 
to  remark  is  the  failure  to  observe  facts  directly 
counter  to  dissociation  and  illusions  of  memory,  and 
which  would  immensely  have  strengthened  his  verdict 
of  '  not  proven '  against  the  supposition  of  super- 
normal agencies. 

The  first  obvious  defect  of  Parish's  work  is  that 
there  is  no  evidence  of  any  inside  study  of  the  phe- 
nomena the  conclusions  from  which  he  criticises.  The 
second  objection  is  that  he  risks  the  whole  force  of 
his  criticism  upon  the  suspicion  of  dissociation  and 
illusions  of  memory,  in  which  the  responsibility  for 
the  defective  nature  of  the  cases  reported  falls  upon 
the  subject  of  the  narrative,  and  not  upon  the  re- 
ceiver of  it.  But  I  wish  here  to  contend  that  not 
only  may  there  be  cases  in  which  the  difficulty  is 
not  what  Parish  supposes,  but  that  the  really  serious 
difficulties  can  often  be  found  only  by  a  careful  study 
of  the  individual  case.  I  mean  here,  of  course,  the 
study  of  the  mental  habits,  beliefs  and  laws  of  asso- 
ciation in  the  individual  reporting  a  remarkable  ex- 
perience. Consequently  I  desire  to  show  in  this  chap- 
ter that  there  is  a  more  important  source  of  miscon- 
ception than  the  subject's  illusions  of  memory,  and 
that  it  can  be  discovered  often  only  on  the  condition 
that  we  accept  the  deliverances  of  this  faculty.  Illu- 
sions of  memory  are  of  course  a  vantage  ground  for 
objection,  but  are  neither  the  only  ones  nor  the  best 
ones.  I  shall  show  this  after  stating  the  facts  upon 
which  the  conviction  rests,  and  which  have  been  gath- 
27 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ered  from  a  personal  study  of  an  individual  case  of 
some  interest.  The  facts  represent  an  extraordinary 
combination  of  apparitions  and  apparent  premonition 
in  which  a  purely  objective  and  superficial  view  would 
suggest  a  supernormal  and  perhaps  spiritistic  inter- 
pretation. Before  making  any  comments  or  expla- 
nations I  shall  narrate  the  incidents  in  the  order  in 
which  they  occurred,  and  in  which  I  obtained  them. 
The  subject  of  the  experiences  is  one  who  has  no 
prejudices  in  favor  of  such  phenomena.  On  the 
contrary,  the  antipathy  to  anything  like  a  spiritistic 
view  of  them  is  unyielding  and  marked  by  what  the 
sceptic  would  regard  as  a  very  healthy  disgust.  The 
intelligence  is  sufficient  to  make  the  facts  entirely 
acceptable,  and,  though  some  of  them  will  not  strike 
a  scientific  observer  as  of  any  serious  interest,  es- 
pecially when  thought  of  as  isolated,  yet  the  at  least 
amusingly  cumulative  character  of  them  and  their 
distinct  semblance  to  those  experiences  which  so  many 
people  feel  may  be  significant  are  striking  enough  to 
justify  analysis  and  explanation,  especially  when  this 
explanation  exhibits  a  neglected  source  of  miscon- 
ception.    The  facts,  then,  are  as  follows: 

The  experiences  to  be  here  narrated  are  those  of 
a  lady  whom  I  shall  call  Mrs.  D.  She  is  the  same 
subject  of  whom  I  have  reported  a  number  of  other 
interesting  incidents  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research.  This  fact  will  be  useful  to 
know  if  the  reader  wishes  to  study  the  whole  group 
of  phenomena  coming  from  the  same  source.  But 
the  present  group  is  wholly  independent  of  the  earlier 
cases. 

28 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

Some  time  in  July,  1897,  Mrs.  D.  had  a  strong  im- 
pression that  some  unusual  '  burden  '  was  going  to 
fall  upon  the  family.  She  could  describe  the  feeling 
in  no  other  way,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  expres- 
sion is  a  common  one  with  religious  minds,  which 
often  employ  the  term  to  denote  a  providential  afflic- 
tion. This  meaning  Mrs.  D.  gave  to  the  term  her- 
self. But  the  feeling  was  too  vague  to  identify  with 
any  past  cause  or  any  incident  to  be  forecasted  in 
the  future.  In  stating  the  fact  also  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  Mrs.  D.  was  in  good  health,  in  fact, 
better  than  usual,  as  the  phrase  goes,  though  at  no 
time  does  she  have  to  complain  of  more  than  the  in- 
disposition of  people  who  have  the  personal  care  of 
their  children  and  the  domestic  work.  Hence  there 
was  nothing  in  her  physical  condition  that  would  sug- 
gest a  clear  physical  cause  of  such  a  feeling,  nor 
any  meaning  that  might  deserve  attention.  I  am 
not  implying  that  there  were  no  such  causes,  for 
there  may  have  been  conditions  that  a  skilled  physi- 
cian would  detect.  But  to  the  consciousness  of  the 
subject  there  was  no  indication  of  indisposition  of 
any  kind.  In  fact,  she  has  answered  all  my  inquiries 
on  this  point  to  the  effect  that  her  peculiar  experi- 
ences occur  most  frequently  when  her  health  is  at  its 
best,  so  far  as  her  own  judgment  can  determine. 
Throughout  the  whole  period  over  which  the  present 
narrative  extends  her  health  was  good.  In  the  month 
of  August  this  premonitory  feeling  repeated  itself 
very  frequently,  and  became  so  annoying  that  Mrs. 
D.  mentioned  it  to  her  husband,  who  confirms  her 
statement  in  regard  to  both  facts,  and  hence  supports 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  supposition  that  the  location  of  the  experience 
previous  to  its  real  or  supposed  fulfilment  is  not  due 
to  an  illusion  of  memory.  Finally,  the  feeling  became 
so  intense  and  persistent  that  Mrs.  D.,  as  is  often  the 
case  with  religious  minds  as  deeply  imbued  with  piety 
as  is  her  own,  sought  relief  in  prayer.  But  though 
this  resource  had  in  her  estimation  been  effective  in 
other  cases  where  it  had  been  instigated,  as  might  well 
be  in  a  mind  so  sensitive  to  automatisms  as  is  her 
own,  yet  the  feeling  could  not  be  dismissed,  and  with 
a  conviction  that  the  affliction  was  not  to  be  evaded 
she  sought  to  cultivate  the  frame  of  mind  suited  to 
the  endurance  of  the  inevitable. 

To  make  the  matter  clearer  it  is  necessary  to  antic- 
ipate the  sequel  of  the  story,  to  which  the  incidents 
of  the  narrative  are  supposed  to  refer.  This  is  that 
the  little  daughter,  whom  I  shall  call  Lettie,  and  who 
was  just  one  year  and  nine  months  old,  died  on  De- 
cember 2,  1897,  from  the  burning  of  her  cradle. 

At  odd  times  between  August  and  December  Mrs. 
D.,  in  her  thoughts  about  the  child's  future  and  while 
planning  some  little  thing  for  her,  would  hear  a  voice 
saying,  "  She'll  never  need  it."  One  of  these  occa- 
sions was  the  following:  The  family  live  in  a  house 
with  few  accommodations  for  a  clergyman  who  re- 
quires a  study,  and  Mrs.  D.  planned  to  give  Lettie 
a  certain  room  for  a  bedroom  when  she  grew  older, 
and  was  running  over  how  she  would  furnish  it,  and 
this  voice  came  as  described.  It  was  not  exactly  what 
one  could  describe  as  an  external  voice,  nor  again  a 
mere  thought  impression  or  product  of  the  memory 
and  imagination,  as  we  usually  characterize  such 
30 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

things,  but  one  of  those  internal  voices  with  which 
psychical  researches  have  become  familiar  and  which 
Mrs.  D.  herself  distinguishes  as  neither  a  real  voice 
nor  a  memory  reproduction,  but  an  impression  with 
all  the  characters  of  a  real  voice  except  the  sense  of 
external  reality.  Psychiatrists  will  recognize  without 
remark  the  nature  of  such  an  experience,  and  as  I 
am  only  narrating  facts  I  do  not  need  to  make  any 
comments. 

There  were  many  repetitions  of  this  voice  in  about 
the  same  language.  One  of  them  occurred  about  two 
weeks  before  the  child's  death.  Mrs.  D.  had  resolved 
to  write  a  little  diary  which  she  could  give  to  the 
child  when  it  became  older.  She  wrote  down  two 
separate  accounts  on  different  days  of  certain  events 
having  an  interest  to  the  little  girl,  the  day  of  the 
month,  unfortunately  for  the  psychical  researches, 
not  being  mentioned  in  them,  though  this  would  have 
been  of  no  importance  for  the  contents  of  the  diary, 
as  there  is  nothing  evidential  in  them  regarding  the 
incidents  at  hand.  But  while  writing  them,  this  voice 
came  as  before :  "  She'll  never  need  them."  The  day 
before  the  child  died  the  same  voice  appeared,  and 
on  the  morning  of  her  death  she  was  running 
about  the  house  in  a  rather  dilapidated  pair  of  shoes, 
when  Mrs.  D.  remarked  to  the  child  that  her  feet 
must  be  cold  and  thought  she  must  have  a  new  pair 
of  shoes.  In  the  midst  of  her  thoughts  came  the 
voice  again,  "  She'll  never  need  them."  It  must  be 
added  also  that,  previous  to  the  impression  of  a  com- 
ing *  burden '  above  described,  this  voice  had  been 
heard  several  times. 

31 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

About  a  week  before  the  child's  death  Mrs.  D. 
thought  she  smelled  fire  at  night,  and  feeling  afraid 
of  it  went  to  the  cellar  to  look  after  the  matches 
and  to  see  that  there  was  no  danger.  She  found  no 
traces  of  fire  and  nothing  to  explain  her  impression. 
But  from  that  time  she  began  to  be  careful  about 
matches,  seeing  that  they  were  in  safe  places  and  out 
of  reach.  She  even  went  so  far  as  to  look  over  the 
house  for  the  matches,  and  felt  a  strong  impulse  to 
burn  all  parlor  matches  which  were  of  that  kind  that 
is  easily  lighted.  Once  the  impulse  to  do  this  was 
attended  with  something  like  a  voice  warning  her  to 
the  same  end,  and  about  the  danger  of  fire.  Nothing 
definite  enough  having  been  suggested  by  the  voice 
to  guide  her  actions  directly,  Mrs.  D.  could  only  im- 
agine the  necessary  precautions,  and  finally  thought 
to  hang  a  dripping  pan  in  front  of  the  range  fire, 
a  thing  she  had  never  done  before,  to  prevent 
coals  from  falling  out  during  the  night.  Nor  had 
any  apprehensions  of  this  kind  ever  been  felt  before, 
within  her  recollection,  and  there  were  no  special 
reasons  to  suppose  that  any  danger  of  fire  in  this 
way  existed.  But  as  there  was  no  other  fire  in  the 
house  than  that  in  this  range  and  one  in  the  heater, 
a  sort  of  closed  stove  or  furnace  like  the  Baltimore 
heater,  no  other  definite  course  was  left  open  to  the 
imagination  for  preventive  measures  except  the  un- 
usual one  mentioned. 

On  the  morning  of  the  child's  death,  and  during 

family   worship,    another   incident   of   some   interest 

occurred.     In  the  midst  of  the  petition  for  individual 

members  of  the  family,  when  she  came  to  the  phrase 

32 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND     COINCIDENCES 

with  which  she  besought  divine  care  for  each  one, 
and  attempted  to  apply  it  in  behalf  of  Lettie,  though 
no  difficulty  was  encountered  in  the  case  of  the  other 
children,  in  this  case  something  seemed  to  stop  Mrs. 
D.'s  voice,  and  she  could  not  repeat  the  usual  lan- 
guage.     She  recalls  no  similar  previous  experience. 

On  the  same  morning,  about  an  hour  before  the 
fatal  disaster,  the  propulsion  to  destroy  the  matches 
that  were  dangerous  became  stronger  and  stronger, 
until  Mrs.  D.  turned  and  reached  for  the  box  to  de- 
stroy it.  But  as  she  picked  it  up  she  thought,  No ; 
L.  (the  elder  boy)  is  gone,  and  she  thought  that 
she  might  need  the  matches  to  light  the  gas  stove. 
She  then  said  aloud  to  herself,  "  I'll  destroy  it  as 
soon  as  he  comes  back."  She  then  went  on  with  her 
work  in  the  kitchen.  When  the  time  came,  about 
ten  o'clock,  Lettie  was  taken  up  to  her  crib  for  the 
morning  sleep,  and  as  Mrs.  D.  was  putting  her  into 
the  cradle  a  voice,  such  as  has  been  described  above, 
said :  "  Turn  the  mattress."  This  Mrs.  D.  was  ac- 
customed to  do,  though  she  had  never  experienced 
any  voice  before  in  connection  with  it.  But,  being 
in  a  great  hurry,  she  simply  said  in  a  motherly  way 
to  the  child  that  she  would  turn  the  mattress  after 
the  child  had  taken  her  nap.  She  then  went  down 
stairs  to  her  work.  After  a  while  she  heard  the  child 
cry,  and  hurrying  up  to  the  room,  found  the  crib  and 
its  bedding  on  fire,  and  the  child  so  badly  burned 
that  it   died  in  three  hours. 

The  only  possible  way  to  account  for  the  accident 
was  to  suppose  that  the  child  had  found  a  match, 
possibly  in  the  crib  or  on  the  mantel  piece,  which  she 
33 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

could  reach,  and  lighting  it,  had  set  its  bedclothes 
on  fire.  The  other  two  children  were  not  present. 
L.  had  gone  down  town  on  an  errand  and  E.,  the 
younger  boy,  was  at  school.  No  fire  was  on  this 
floor  of  the  house,  but  in  the  kitchen  and  the  dining 
room,  both  below. 

Now,  another  incident  of  much  interest  had  oc- 
curred many  times  during  the  two  or  three  years' 
residence  of  the  family  in  this  house.  Mrs.  D.  had 
often  had  a  visual  apparition  of  this  very  crib  on 
fire,  but  as  her  apparitions  or  visual  automatisms 
are  very  frequent,  she  had  not  thought  to  assign 
it  any  meaning  or  possible  coincidental  value  until 
after  the  accident. 

These  were  the  experiences  of  Mrs.  D.  previous 
to  the  event,  but  there  were  two  other  incidents  by 
other  persons  than  Mrs.  D.,  that  lend  themselves  to 
a  construction  of  coincidence  in  connection  with  the 
accident.  The  first  is  exactly  like  the  one  narrated 
as  occurring  at  family  devotions.  Mrs.  D.  has  a 
sister  living  in  Connecticut,  some  seventy-five  miles 
from  B.,  the  home  of  Mrs.  D.  No  correspondence 
had  passed  recently  between  them,  and  the  sister  was 
not  given  to  as  devotional  a  life  as  Mrs.  D.  It  must 
also  be  remembered  that  the  sister  had  ridiculed  Mrs. 
D.'s  stories  of  her  experiences,  and  even  went  so  far 
as  to  criticise  Mrs.  D.  half  jestingly  for  her  extrav- 
agant piety.  She  discouraged  Mrs.  D.'s  tolerance  of 
possible  significance  in  many  of  the  coincidences  which 
I  have  recorded  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  (Vol.  12,  p.  259  seq.),  when  they 
were  the  subject  of  conversation.  But  on  hearing  of 
34 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

the  child's  death  she  came  to  B.  and  narrated  an 
experience  of  her  own.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  about 
a  week  before  the  death  of  the  child  she  had  had  such 
an  experience  as  she  had  never  had  before.  An  over- 
whelming impression  of  some  great  calamity  to  occur 
in  the  'family'  (the  incidents  show  that  the  term 
included  the  whole  family  connections),  and  the  im- 
pulse arose  in  her  to  pray  for  each  one,  which  she 
did,  feeling,  as  she  expressed  it  in  her  narrative,  that 
this  was  an  unusual  procedure  for  her.  She  went  over 
each  person  among  parents  and  relatives,  until  she 
came  to  the  child,  Lettie,  when  her  voice  suddenly 
stopped  and  she  could  not  pray  for  her  as  for  the 
others.  She  finally  managed,  however,  to  utter  with 
struggling  voice  a  petition  for  '  our  little  blossom,' 
the  name  which  she  was  accustomed  to  apply  to  Lettie 
when  speaking  of  her. 

The  second  incident  was  an  experience  of  the  next 
door  neighbor  to  the  D.'s.  I  shall  call  the  lady  who 
had  it  Mrs.  G.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  child's  death 
Mrs.  G.  came  in  about  three  o'clock  and  apropos  of 
the  accident  remarked  that  on  the  night  before,  I 
believe  it  was,  she  had  been  wakened  by  the  fear  of 
fire  and  had  gone  down  to  the  cellar  to  search  for  it, 
and  exclaimed  while  making  the  search :  "  Oh !  if 
our  little  baby  should  burn  up ! "  Her  own  child 
was  about  the  age  of  Lettie.  The  relation  of  this 
incident  to  the  case  will  be  noticed  later. 

There  was  also  another  experience  of  Mrs.  D.'s 
which  psychical  researchers  would  classify  as  '  sym- 
bolical.' Whether  it  be  so  or  not  is  a  matter  of  no 
concern  to  us  at  present,  but  is  recorded  for  the  sake 
35 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  the  interpretation  which  the  mind  is  capable  of 
putting  on  it  either  as  an  afterthought  or  as  a  con- 
firmatory coincidence  of  the  others.  But  a  night 
or  two  before  the  accident  Mrs.  D.  had  a  dream  with 
the  following  incidents  in  it.  She  had  gone  with 
Mr.  D.  and  the  three  children  to  the  railway  station 
at  M.  to  take  the  train  for  a  visit  to  a  friend.  As 
they  came  up  to  the  station  the  train  was  coming  in. 
Mr.  D.  with  the  oldest  child,  L.,  ran  across  the  track 
ahead  of  the  train  and  reached  the  platform.  Mrs. 
D.  and  the  other  two  children  were  too  late  to  get 
across  the  track  and  waited  until  it  stopped.  They 
then  climbed  upon  the  car  platform  to  cross  over 
and  join  Mr.  D.  and  L.  But,  just  as  they  reached 
the  platform,  the  train  began  to  back  upon  a  switch, 
which  was  the  custom  at  this  place  to  let  a  train  pass. 
Mrs.  D.  paid  no  attention  to  it,  but  started  through 
the  car  expecting  to  find  her  husband  and  other  child. 
She  noticed  that  the  train  was  empty,  but,  leaving 
the  two  children  in  a  seat,  went  on  in  the  search  for 
Mr.  D.  and  L.  Presently  she  found  that  the  train 
kept  backing  and  backing  until  she  noticed  that  it 
was  near  Toledo,  some  forty  miles  from  her  start- 
ing point,  when  she  came  upon  the  conductor,  who 
told  her  that  the  children,  E.  and  Lettie,  had  been 
switched  off  some  time  before.  Mr.  D.  and  L. 
reached  their  destination  safely  and  were  joined  later 
by  Mrs.  D.  Such  was  the  dream.  Now,  since  the 
death  of  Lettie  and  during  the  funeral  Mrs.  D.  has 
frequently  heard  a  voice  say,  "  The  end  is  not  yet." 
Mrs.  D.  also  narrates  that  she  often  has  a  feeling 
that  E.,  the  child  here  associated  with  Lettie  in  the 
36 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

dream,  may  get  killed  by  the  trolley  cars,  accidents 
of  this  kind  being  frequent  in  the  city  where  the  fam- 
ily lives. 

These  experiences  took  place  before  the  death  of 
the  child.  There  are  two  others,  however,  that  oc- 
curred after  it  and  that  may  throw  some  light  upon 
all  the  phenomena  purporting  to  suggest  coincidence. 

The  night  after  the  burial  of  the  child  Mrs.  D., 
as  perhaps  is  true  of  most  persons  passing  through 
a  shock  of  this  kind,  could  picture  to  herself  nothing 
but  the  little  coffin  and  the  grave.  It  was  not  a 
vision  or  an  hallucination,  but  only  a  memory  picture, 
such  as  any  one  can  recall.  The  remembered  picture 
was  exceedingly  unpleasant,  and,  evidently,  in  spite 
of  her  faith,  a  little  tinge  of  scepticism  came  to  dis- 
turb her  mind,  because  she  said  that  she  did  not  like  to 
think  that  her  little  child  was  not  a  spirit,  but  a 
corpse  with  a  vanished  soul.  To  remove  the  unpleas- 
ant feeling  Mrs.  D.  prayed  to  have  a  realizing  sense 
and  the  power  to  know  that  the  child  was  a  spirit 
and  did  not  lie  in  the  grave.  At  this  time  she  was 
at  the  home  of  her  sister,  whither  the  family  had 
gone  to  seek  a  burial  place.  One  morning,  soon  after 
this  prayer,  she  awakened  and  lay  for  an  hour  think- 
ing over  family  affairs.  The  sun  was  shining  brightly 
in  the  room,  and  while  thinking  about  the  clothes 
she  would  put  on  the  two  boys  to  prevent  their  best 
ones  from  being  soiled  at  their  play  when  they  got 
up,  suddenly  she  saw  a  form  by  the  bedside,  and 
turning,  saw  an  apparition  of  little  Lettie  with  her 
hands  on  the  bedside  and  smiling  at  Mrs.  D.  By 
her  side  was  the  form  of  a  woman,  holding  her  hands 
37 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

about  the  child,  as  if  to  assist  it.  Mrs.  D.  sprang  up 
in  bed  and  unconsciously  exclaimed,  "  Good  morning, 
Lettie,"  and  both  figures  immediately  vanished.  The 
forms  were  transparent  and  objects  could  be  seen 
through  them.  The  grown  form  was  not  recogniz- 
able as  any  one  that  Mrs.  D.  knew,  but  it  had  no 
distinct  resemblance  to  the  representation  of  an  angel, 
such  as  pictures  might  suggest.  It  seemed,  there- 
fore, not  to  be  an  automatism  from  the  memory  of 
angelic  pictures.  The  dress  fitted  rather  closely, 
and  the  hair  was  of  a  decidedly  golden  hue  and  the 
face  one  of  great  beauty.  No  suggestion  of  friends 
was  apparent  in  it.  The  experience  displaced  the 
ugly  feeling  created  by  the  memory  of  the  coffin 
and  the  grave,  and  though  not  believing  that  she 
had  seen  the  spirit  of  her  child,  or  that  spiritualism 
is  a  rational  doctrine,  Mrs.  D.  retained  a  strong  sense 
of  satisfaction  from  the  vision.  She  is  disposed  to 
interpret  it  as  a  providential  comfort  for  her  sorrow. 

At  the  end  of  December  another  incident  took  place 
that  will  have  some  interest.  This  time  it  was  the 
experience  of  the  little  boy  E.  It  was  first  told  me 
by  Mr.  D.,  who  had  called  on  a  business  matter.  It 
seems  that  the  child  had  climbed  up  on  a  couch  beside 
his  mother  who  lay  down  for  a  rest,  and  in  a  few 
moments  asked  his  mother  if  his  sister  Lettie  was 
smoke.  The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  D.  in  re- 
sponse to  my  inquiry  narrates  the  details  of  the 
occurrence. 

B ,  January  5th,  1898. 

Dr.  Hyslop  : 

You  requested  a  note  of  E's  recent  experience.  It 
occurred  on  Thursday  eve,  Dec.  30th  (1897). 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

I  lay  down  on  the  sofa  to  rest  in  the  evening,  and, 
as  he  often  does,  he  climbed  back  of  me  to  rest  with 
me.  I  do  not  remember  what  my  thoughts  were, 
but  feel  quite  confident  I  was  not  thinking  of  my  ex- 
perience at  S ',  Conn.,  when  E.  said :     "  Mamma, 

is  little  Lettie  air  now?  Is  she  like  smoke?  "  Why, 
darling?  "  'Cause  I  just  saw  her  and  put  my  arms 
around  her  and  she  was  like  air."  I  will  endeavor  to 
keep  account  of  anything  further. 

Yours  respectfully, 

E D . 

On  inquiry  about  the  incident  I  could  find  no  trace 
of  any  story  to  the  child  that  might  lead  to  a  belief 
on  its  part  in  such  a  reality  as  its  experience  might 
be  taken  to  describe.  Neither  Mr.  nor  Mrs.  D.  could 
recall  any  narrative  that  might  suggest  it.  No  imme- 
diate thought  or  statement  of  Mrs.  D.,  who  was 
intent  on  rest,  could  be  recalled  that  might  have  in- 
spired the  child's  idea.  Moreover,  the  child  was  only 
four  years  old.  The  incident  impressed  both  parents 
as  very  striking,  and  they  were  evidently  puzzled 
by  it,  having  a  strong  aversion  to  the  apparent  mean- 
ing of  such  occurrences. 

Such  are  the  facts,  or  at  least  alleged  facts,  in  a 
case  of  real  or  apparent  coincidences.  I  must  warn 
the  reader,  however,  that  I  have  not  narrated  them 
either  for  the  purpose  of  proving  any  hypothesis 
or  with  the  demand  that  any  one  shall  consider  them 
genuine  or  significant.  I  am  content  if  I  have  pro- 
duced an  average  story  of  this  kind  which  can  at 
least  pretend  to  authenticity.  I  am  willing  to  concede 
any  amount  of  scepticism  in  regard  to  the  importance 
39 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  the  alleged  experiences,  since  it  is  not  a  part  of 
my  task  either  to  vindicate  their  authenticity  beyond 
question  or  to  urge  their  extraordinary  interest.  Any 
man  may  have  what  theory  he  pleases  about  these 
matters.  The  plan  here  is  to  produce  facts  in  the 
same  individual  experience  which  science  will  have 
either  to  question  equally  with  the  above  in  order  to 
save  its  consistency  or  to  accept  the  whole  with  their 
defense  of  psychological  interest  for  even  suspicious 
phenomena.  Nevertheless,  since  it  is  the  intention  to 
show  more  fruitful  sources  of  difficulty  to  the  super- 
normal than  illusions  of  memory,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  recognize  the  question  of  authenticity  and  allied 
problems.  But  the  main  purpose  is  to  study  the 
individual  case  and  to  find  in  it  the  explanation  of 
what  one  side  may  regard  as  supernormal  and  what 
the  other  ignores  simply  for  the  lack  of  courage  to 
study  the  facts. 

I  think  that  every  one  would  frankly  admit  that 
the  narrative  presents,  at  least  to  the  ordinary  mind, 
an  extraordinary  set  of  coincidences  in  favor  of 
premonition  and  spiritism.  That  is  the  interpreta- 
tion which  the  temperament  of  many  persons  would 
put  upon  the  incidents,  and  their  apparent  relevance 
for  this  purpose  is  all  that  I  care  to  sustain.  The 
impression  that  such  experiences  make  on  the  average 
man  or  woman  is  all  that  it  is  necessary  to  recognize 
in  order  to  demand  for  them  the  same  consideration 
which  mesmerism  and  reports  about  meteors  were 
finally  able  to  exact,  much  to  the  shame  of  those 
who  at  first  insisted  upon  laughing  at  them.  For 
myself  I  do  not  wonder  that  untrained  psychologists 
40 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

feel  greatly  puzzled  at  such  incidents,  when  I  come  to 
consider  the  marvelous  fertility  and  complexity  of 
mental  processes.  After  all,  science  is  founded  on 
coincidences  of  some  kind,  and  it  cannot  afford  to 
dismiss  them  hastily,  when  a  little  tolerance  and  pa- 
tience will  reveal  a  rich  field  of  explanation,  without 
discrediting  facts  on  the  one  hand,  or  rushing  into 
the  arms  of  the  supernatural  on  the  other.  In  the 
present  case  some  of  the  facts  certainly  simulate  the 
view  of  premonition  and  others  equally  simulate  a 
spiritistic  interpretation.  I  think  few  persons  would 
question  this  assertion.  But  refusing  to  treat  them 
conscientiously  will  neither  dispel  the  illusions  so 
freely  imputed  to  others  nor  discover  the  causes  of 
their  apparent  significance. 

The  first  criticism  which  I  imagine  the  average 
psychologist  would  direct  against  the  supposed  value 
of  the  alleged  coincidences  narrated  would  be  the 
vague  indefiniteness  of  the  feelings  spoken  of  as  pre- 
monitory. This  I  have  mentioned  for  the  sake  of 
conceding  it  as  fatal  if  the  question  concerned  their 
evidential  character  in  behalf  of  the  supernormal. 
But,  inasmuch  as  I  am  less  anxious  either  to  prove  or 
to  disprove  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  phenomena 
than  I  am  to  discover  in  this  individual  case  the  pos- 
sible influence  of  other  agencies  quite  independent  of 
both  vagueness  and  distinctness,  I  may  assume  that 
the  case  is  free  from  that  objection.  Besides  the 
accusation  of  indefiniteness  cannot  so  easily  be  brought 
against  the  incidents  of  the  apparition  of  the  burn- 
ing cradle  and  the  automatism  or  voice  "  She'll  never 
need  them."  Nor  is  there  any  vagueness  about  the 
41 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

apparition  of  the  child  after  death.  But  I  shall 
grant,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  that  the  facts  are 
too  inconsequential  to  seduce  severe  scientific  method 
from  its  attitude  of  scepticism,  in  so  far  as  the  super- 
normal is  concerned.  It  will  not  be  so  easy,  however, 
to  explain  the  coincidences  as  it  will  be  to  doubt  their 
evidential  value  for  occult  theories.  But,  as  the  more 
definite  experiences  yield  to  easy  normal  explanation, 
when  the  mental  habits  of  the  subject  are  known,  we 
may  easily  dispose  of  the  less  definite  incidents. 

The  spiritistic  interpretation,  I  have  said,  is  a  nat- 
ural one  for  these  incidents.  But  the  difficulties  with 
which  that  hypothesis  has  to  contend  are  much  greater 
than  the  narrative  would  suggest,  and  they  can  be  dis- 
covered only  by  a  direct  investigation  of  the  mind  that 
had  the  experiences.  To  make  this  evident,  I  have  to 
remark  many  more  facts  than  are  even  likely  to  find 
their  way  spontaneously  into  such  a  story.  They  are 
all  included,  however,  under  the  general  head  of 
automatisms.  This  term  I  use  to  denote  any  resurg- 
ence into  consciousness  of  either  an  apparent  reality 
or  an  idea  wholly  foreign  to  the  contents  of  the  pres- 
ent stream  of  thought  and  in  no  way  impressible  into 
it.  They  may  be  called  by  any  other  name  that  is  de- 
sirable. If  the  reader  prefers  the  term  hallucination 
I  shall  not  object.  But  I  choose  'automatism'  as 
less  invidious  in  its  implications.  I  have  found  these 
experiences  very  frequent  with  Mrs.  D.  Many  of 
them  have  been  closely  connected  with  her  religious 
life,  the  automatism  taking  a  form  that  associated 
it  at  once  with  an  intense  devotional  piety.  For  in- 
stance, the  habit  of  devotion  in  moods  of  religious 
42 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

want  was  intimately  associated  with  promptings  to 
pray  at  the  most  unlikely  times  and  in  the  most  un- 
likely places.  Religious  reflection  seems  to  have  in- 
stigated certain  tendencies  to  a  strong  and  persistent 
emotional  life  that  had  an  associative  influence  upon 
the  stream  independent  of  the  ideas  immediately  in  the 
field  of  attention.  The  consequence  was  a  large  num- 
ber of  automatisms,  often  capricious,  but  traceable  to 
the  subliminal  trend  of  her  emotional  life.  Pierre 
Janet's  conception  of  the  '  disintegration  of  person- 
ality '  affords  a  good  representation  of  what  went  on 
in  her  mind,  though  not  at  all  so  marked  as  in  his 
cases.  Her  religious  emotions  were  either  persistent 
with  all  the  incidents  of  everyday  life  or  were  sub- 
liminally  active  when  they  had  no  natural  connection 
with  the  main  stream  of  mental  action.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  this  I  may  mention  an  instance  of  crystal 
vision  which  I  have  already  put  on  record  from  the 
same  subject.  ('  Proceedings  of  Society  for  Psychic- 
al Research,'  Vol.  12,  p.  261.)  This  experience  rep- 
resented a  vision  of  a  room  with  sunbeams  pouring 
into  it  through  a  recessional  window,  and  into  the 
stream  of  sunlight  flew  a  dove.  Remembering  that 
many  religious  books  and  pictures  have  associated 
sunlight  and  the  dove,  I  inquired  to  know  whether 
Mrs.  D.  was  familiar  with  such  representations  and 
found  that  she  was,  just  such  a  picture  being  in 
one  of  the  family  Bibles.  She  herself  did  not  recall 
any  such  until  her  husband  first  responded  to  my 
question  in  the  affirmative,  showing  that  the  associa- 
tion was  wholly  subliminal.  Another  beautiful  in- 
stance of  purely  subliminal  association  will  be  found 
43 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

in  the  case  of  Miss  X.  ('  Proceedings  of  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,'  Vol.  8,  p.  484.)  It  quite 
resembles  the  one  by  Mrs.  D.  Now  the  room  into 
which  Mrs.  D.  saw  the  sunbeams  pouring  exactly 
resembles  a  corner  in  a  medieval  church.  This  would 
naturally  appeal  to  the  religious  emotions  and  asso- 
ciations. The  tendency  of  the  mind  under  such  con- 
ditions requires  no  further  comment  for  the  psychol- 
ogist. Nor  is  it  necessary  for  the  subject  to  be  able 
to  detect  the  trend  of  consciousness  in  the  case.  The 
influences  are  too  subtle  to  be  traced  easily.  But 
they  are  there,  and  have  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
explanation  of  all  data  not  properly  fusible  with  the 
main  stream.  Another  beautiful  series  of  automa- 
tisms with  Mrs.  D.  are  connected  with  the  playing 
of  the  piano.  She  has  had  no  special  training  for 
this,  and  has  picked  up  mostly  what  little  she  knows 
by  herself.  About  two  years  ago,  and  all  at  once, 
without  any  practice,  a  piano  having  been  provided 
only  a  short  time  before  and  no  regular  playing  hav- 
ing been  indulged  for  a  long  time,  Mrs.  D.  noticed 
herself  playing  pieces  automatically  and  sent  for  me 
to  know  what  it  was.  She  was  wholly  unconscious  of 
intending  the  movements  of  the  fingers  or  the  pieces 
of  music  played.  Some  of  the  pieces  played  were 
wholly  unknown  to  her.  Some  were  familiar  hymns 
and  some  were  a  combination  of  various  familiar 
pieces  of  church  music.  In  listening  to  the  instances 
of  unknown  pieces  I  noticed  that  they  were  of  the 
same  type  as  the  familiar  hymns :  They  were  all  of 
the  religious  class.  I  found  on  inquiry  that  music 
has  a  strong  influence  on  her  religious  emotions.  This 
44 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

effect  would  react  on  the  piano  playing,  so  that  any 
emotional  phase  of  her  mental  life  in  the  field  of  at- 
tention or  out  of  it,  that  is,  supraliminal  or  subliminal, 
might  either  recall  the  past  into  consciousness  or 
automatically  reproduce  music  that  she  might  or 
might  not  recognize.  That  she  might  not  recognize 
some  pieces  is  easily  rendered  probable  by  the  experi- 
ence which  she  narrated  to  me  about  the  sky,  garden 
fence,  chain  pump,  etc.  (see  '  Proceedings  of  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,'  Vol.  12,  p.  262,  263),  and 
which  illustrates  very  clearly  both  the  fact  of  autom- 
atism and  recall  without  recognition.  In  the  musi- 
cal instances  we  find  the  influence  of  the  main  trend 
of  religious  emotion.  Not  that  this  is  the  only  emo- 
tion that  is  likely  to  produce  them,  but  that  there  is 
a  unity  between  this  fact  in  her  life  and  the  musical 
automatisms  observed.  That  circumstance  suffices 
to  establish  a  principle  to  be  used  here  as  a  basis  of 
explanation. 

We  have  now  a  fulcrum  to  apply  in  the  case  of  the 
incidents  connected  with  the  present  narrative.  Take 
first  the  apparition  a  few  hours  after  the  funeral. 
This  is  one  of  the  decidedly  spiritistic  incidents  of  the 
case.  But  if  the  reader  will  return  to  it,  he  will  find 
that  the  state  of  mind  that  preceded  it  was  precisely 
one  that  might  lead  to  just  such  an  automatism  as  the 
experience  records,  if  it  be  an  automatism.  I  hardly 
know  a  better  fact  to  suggest  automatism  originated 
by  latent  influences  in  the  system  than  this  very  in- 
cident. There  was  confessedly  a  strong  wish  to  re- 
move what  was  in  reality,  though  not  perceived  as 
such,  a  sceptical  feeling  about  spiritual  survival  from 
45 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  grave.  There  was  a  desire  and  a  struggle  to  get 
rid  of  an  unpleasant  fear,  impression  or  memory,  and 
the  act  of  pTayer  would  tend  to  restore  the  old  faith 
and  its  influence  upon  the  mind.  The  physical  ex- 
hilaration of  the  sunlight  and  fresh  morning  air  in  the 
country  might  produce  a  favorable  condition,  sublim- 
inal or  supraliminal,  for  the  resurgence  into  conscious- 
ness of  a  suitable  object  of  consolation.  What  more 
likely  then  than  that  the  mind  should  succeed  in  push- 
ing forward  some  experience  which  would  take  the 
place  of  the  unpleasant  sensation  that  had  instigated 
the  prayer?  Having  had  many  experiences  of  visions, 
aural  automatisms  and  impressions,  evidently  deter- 
mined by  those  conditions  of  mind  not  immediately  oc- 
cupied with  the  object  of  apperception  and  closely 
associated  with  religious  wants  and  emotions,  we  can 
here  trace  a  possible  influence  from  the  latent  expec- 
tation of  consolation  to  relieve  the  disagreeable  feel- 
ing connected  with  a  half  sceptical  tone  of  mind 
wholly  foreign  to  her  regular  life. 

The  psychical  researcher  may  think  this  explana- 
tion rather  far-fetched.  This  may  be  true,  and  I  do 
not  care  to  urge  it  as  determinately  true  beyond  all 
doubt.  I  am  satisfied  if  it  can  appear  as  an  alterna- 
tive possibility  to  the  spiritistic  theory,  for  that  fact 
will  put  limitations  upon  the  theory  that  claims  at 
least  superficial  recognition. 

Another  interesting  incident  in  the  narrative  points 
in  the  same  direction.  This  is  the  case  of  the  appa- 
rition of  the  burning  cradle.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  coincidental  features  of  the  whole  narrative. 
I  have  mentioned  the  experience  without  any  of  the 
46 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

circumstances  that  personal  inquiry  produced,  in  or- 
der to  keep  the  incident  in  the  shape  that  such  facts 
usually  take  where  the  antecedent  circumstances  are 
not  investigated.  But  now  if  we  inquire  into  these 
we  shall  find  a  possible  explanation,  certainly  pref- 
erable to  anything  like  premonition  until  that 
hypothesis  obtains  satisfactory  credentials  elsewhere. 
The  fact  is  that  the  crib  stood  within  a  few  feet  of  a 
fire  grate.  But  as  there  had  been  no  fire  in  this  grate 
for  a  year  or  more  the  accident  could  not  have  been 
caused  by  this,  a  circumstance  mentioned  to  sustain 
the  theory  above  advanced  to  account  for  the  acci- 
dent. In  the  first  place,  Mrs.  D.  herself  had  all  along 
explained  the  vision  of  the  burning  crib  by  this  very 
proximity  to  the  fire  grate.  In  the  second  place,  al- 
most every  one  would  have  such  a  possibility  suggested 
to  the  mind  by  this  situation  of  the  crib.  But  not 
every  one  is  subject  to  automatisms,  and  such  thoughts 
are  easily  referred  to  their  proper  source  in  associa- 
tion. Mrs.  D.,  however,  as  we  have  found,  is  liable  to 
these  occurrences.  Besides  the  associations  of  others, 
whether  supraliminal  or  subliminal,  these  influences 
are  liable  to  provoke  an  automatism  independently  of 
the  main  stream  of  consciousness.  Now  it  is  the  un- 
usual occurrence  and  character  of  automatisms  that 
call  special  attention  to  them.  They  are  easily  re- 
membered as  interesting  and  significant  if  any  coin- 
cidence with  them  is  remarked.  If  the  accident  of  the 
child's  death  had  occurred  only  in  connection  with  an 
association  of  a  burning  crib,  every  one  would  have 
dismissed  it  as  a  coincidence  not  worth  taking  seri- 
ously, and  no  significance  would  be  given  it.  But 
47 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

when  an  accident  of  this  sort  occurs  in  coincidence 
with  an  apparition  apparently  premonitory  in  char- 
acter, we  forget  association  and  are  tempted  by  the 
unusual  nature  of  the  phenomenon  to  ascribe  to  it  a 
value  that  it  may  not  deserve.  We  may  concede  that 
such  an  experience  might  have  some  significance  if 
not  connected  with  automatisms  as  frequent  or  habit- 
ual occurrences.  But  here  we  have  in  this  very  sub- 
ject the  existence  of  automatisms  which  can  be  traced 
directly  to  emotional  influences  of  various  sorts. 
There  is  a  frequent  connection  between  past  thoughts 
and  associations  and  certain  sensory  automatisms, 
and  we  have  only  to  suppose  this  case  one  of  them 
in  order  to  explain  it  in  a  natural  way.  Mere  asso- 
ciation in  this  case  would  not  have  suggested  signifi- 
cance. Hence,  as  there  is  a  probable  connection  be- 
tween a  frequent  association  and  an  interesting  coinci- 
dental automatism,  there  will  be  no  more  reason  to 
give  the  latter  a  significance  than  the  former,  which 
is  never  inclined  to  receive  such  importance.  If  the 
content  of  the  automatism  and  its  complications  are 
independent  both  of  habit  and  hallucinatory  sugges- 
tion, there  might  be  an  excuse  for  suspecting  an  im- 
portance for  it.  But  there  is  no  more  a  priori  reason 
for  giving  evidential  value  to  an  automatism  than  to 
a  suggestion  from  association.  Consequently,  when 
we  find  an  experience  in  all  probability  only  a  more 
developed  product  of  association,  which  does  not  ob- 
tain any  transcendental  significance,  a  product  in 
which  central  activities  effect  the  work  of  peripheral 
stimuli,  the  central  action  being  nothing  more  than 
association  or  suggestion,  as  in  dreams  and  hypnotic 
48 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

hallucinations,  we  must  not  be  in  haste  to  attribute  to 
it  other  than  the  normal  psychological  value,  although 
it  has  other  than  the  normal  psychological  cause. 

Another  incident  is  amenable  to  the  same  explana- 
tion. It  is  the  case  of  the  automatism  occurring  at 
the  time  the  child  was  put  to  bed.  The  aural  auto- 
matism, "  Turn  the  mattress,"  can  easily  be  accounted 
for  by  supposing  that  the  natural  resistance  of  mem- 
ory and  association  to  the  resolution  not  to  turn  the 
mattress  at  the  time  might  readily  produce  the  result. 
Of  course,  we  should  not  expect  any  such  occurrence  in 
the  average  person,  but  we  have  here  a  case  con- 
stantly exposed  to  it,  and  also  the  two  known  facts 
that  she  was  accustomed  to  do  the  very  thing  indicated 
by  the  voice  and  that  this  very  thought  was  con- 
sciously urgent  on  the  mind  until  the  resolution  not 
to  turn  the  mattress  was  formed.  The  automatism, 
"  Turn  the  mattress,"  was  then  probably  nothing 
more  than  an  hallucinatory  resurgence  of  the  thought 
that  preceded  that  resolution,  the  impact  of  habit  and 
association  against  the  new  course  adopted. 

The  two  incidents  just  considered  were  of  the  pre- 
monitory type,  and  could  be  brought  under  one  gen- 
eral explanation.  The  next  is  not  so  easy  to  explain 
in  the  same  way.  But  it  may  be  made  to  yield  to  a 
more  complicated  analysis.  The  incident  is  the  little 
brother's  apparition  of  his  sister  a  month  after  her 
death.  This  is  certainly  very  interesting,  whatever 
we  may  think  of  its  value  as  evidence  for  transcenden- 
tal existence.  It  has  a  more  decidedly  spiritistic  ap- 
pearance than  the  other  incidents.  Nevertheless,  its 
cogency  is  subject  to  limitations  which,  though  com- 
49 


PSYCHICAL    EESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

plicated,  ought  to  be  carefully  considered  both  pro 
and  con. 

The  first  objection  to  its  evidential  character  for 
the  spiritistic  theory  is  the  doubt  about  the  source  of 
the  child's  idea  of  his  sister  after  her  death.  But  as 
my  object  is  not  to  risk  the  case  on  the  impeachment 
of  testimony,  I  wish  to  deal  with  the  case  as  if  it  were 
not  subject  to  scepticism  at  all.  Assuming  then  that 
the  apparition  was  in  no  way  a  direct  suggestion  of 
the  parents,  I  have  to  look  for  an  explanation  outside 
of  spiritism.  Now,  on  inquiry  I  have  found  incidents 
that  may  lead  the  way  out  of  this  supposition.  I  find 
that  Mrs.  D.  has  noticed  a  great  many  times  since 
the  occurrence  that,  while  she  happened  to  be  think- 
ing of  the  child  or  even  other  matters,  E.  would  speak 
up  and  mention  her  or  the  subject  of  his  mother's 
thoughts.  This  has  occurred  so  often  and  in  such 
circumstances  of  a  peculiar  and  unexpected  sort  that 
Mrs.  D.  herself  remarked  the  possibility  of  account- 
ing for  the  original  phenomenon  by  telepathy.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  she  kept  no  record  of  these  ob- 
servations, the  contents  or  circumstances  of  the  alleged 
coincidences,  and  hence  there  is  nothing  to  go  upon 
except  her  own  unsupported  judgment  in  regard  to 
the  cases  thus  mentioned  by  her,  and  they  can  pass 
for  little  worth.  But  an  interesting  incident  occurred 
somewhat  later  which  is  more  important  in  favor  of  a 
telepathic  explanation,  though  this  hypothesis  depends 
upon  prior  proof  of  its  truth  for  its  application  here. 
The  incident  suggesting  this  view  of  the  occurrence 
I  obtained  the  next  day  after  its  occurrence  and  with- 
out its  bearing  being  anticipated  by  Mrs.  D. 
50 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

Mrs.  D.  had  retired  early,  and,  awakening  early, 
had  got  up  to  go  to  the  kitchen  about  S  o'clock. 
After  she  had  reached  the  kitchen,  and  without  any 
reason  from  previous  habits  or  thoughts  or  from  any 
known  circumstances  about  the  house,  she  suddenly 
felt  a  fear  come  over  her  that  there  might  be  a  burg- 
lar in  the  house.  She  thought  at  once  that  such  a 
feeling  was  nonsense,  but  it  clung  to  her,  and  she 
looked  at  the  window  to  see  that  it  was  secure,  and 
turned  to  come  back  to  the  bedroom,  when  she  saw  a 
door  open  several  inches  and  by  which  a  man  could 
easily  have  entered.  Just  as  she  started  to  close  it, 
E.,  whom  she  had  left  sleeping  in  the  next  room  and 
in  no  position  to  know  anything  about  the  door,  awak- 
ened and  called  to  her.  Mrs.  D.  simply  went  on  to 
close  the  door  before  responding  to  his  call,  and  he 
again  called  out,  impatiently,  "  Mamma,  I  was  dream- 
ing that  burglars  were  in  the  house."  Now,  if  we 
treat  this  coincidence  seriously  at  all,  dismissing  the 
possibility  that  the  dream  was  a  suggestion  from  her 
own  movements  in  the  room,  at  least  for  the  sake  of 
considering  the  other  view,  we  might  suppose  it  due  to 
telepathy.  If  then  we  were  to  tolerate  this  hypothesis 
to  explain  the  coincidence  in  this  instance,  we  may  ex- 
tend it  to  the  case  of  the  apparition,  remembering 
that  advocates  of  it  do  not  maintain  the  necessity  of 
present  active  thoughts  to  the  result,  inasmuch  as  the 
process  may  be  wholly  subliminal,  as  well  as  supralim- 
inal. It  will  be  remembered  that  Mrs.  D.  was  not 
thinking  of  the  deceased  child  when  the  little  boy's 
apparition  of  his  sister  took  place.  But  at  any  rate, 
if  we  consider  telepathy  in  the  case  that  has  no  sug- 
51 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

gestion  of  spiritism  in  it,  the  same  hypothesis  should 
be  applied  to  the  other  coincidence  if  it  permits  of 
the  application,  as  I  think  it  does. 

But  there  is  another  resort  that  may  commend  it- 
self more  favorably  to  the  average  scientific  mind,  if 
he  does  not  admit  the  existence  of  telepathy.  This 
supposition  is  effective  against  the  spiritistic  theory 
to  those  who  accept  telepathy,  and  hence  I  have  the 
advantage  of  using  it  for  that  purpose  where  there  is 
any  disposition  to  treat  the  coincidences  seriously  at 
all.  But  dismissing  the  coincidence  about  the  burg- 
lars either  as  a  chance  case  or  as  a  suggested  dream, 
I  was  able  at  the  time  that  the  experience  of  the  appa- 
rition was  told  me  to  ascertain  some  interesting  facts 
that  suggest  a  possible  explanation  for  it  independ- 
ently of  both  spiritism  and  telepathy.  A  careful  in- 
quiry into  a  number  of  facts  which  I  shall  not  take 
the  space  to  describe  in  detail,  but  which  were  very 
suggestive,  led  me  to  believe  that  both  the  remaining 
children  have  some  hereditary  susceptibilities  like  the 
mother.  Assuming  this  as  probable  at  all  events,  and 
remembering  that  inquiry  into  the  habit  of  the  child 
E.  showed  he  had  been  accustomed  to  lie  on  this  very 
sofa  with  his  little  sister  before  her  death  with  her  in 
his  arms,  just  as  he  described  her  in  the  apparition, 
we  have  only  to  suppose  that  suggestion  might  give 
rise  to  the  apparition  itself.  This  will,  no  doubt, 
appear  a  complicated  and  round-about  explanation, 
but  with  the  indications  of  hereditary  peculiarities  in 
the  child  and  the  wide  range  of  automatism  in  Mrs. 
D.  we  may  well  halt  before  going  farther  for  an  ex- 
planation. 

52 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

There  is  also  an  interesting  feature  about  Mrs. 
D.'s  impression  in  regard  to  a  burglar  in  the  house. 
She  knew  no  reason  for  its  occurrence,  as  she  had  not 
been  troubled  with  such  feelings  before.  This  also 
yielded  to  inquiry.  I  asked  her  whether  in  going  to 
the  kitchen  she  had  to  pass  near  enough  to  the  open 
door  to  have  a  current  of  air  come  in  contact  with 
her,  and  the  answer  was  decidedly  in  the  affirmative. 
It  was  dark  and  she  did  not  see  the  open  door,  nor 
did  she  consciously  feel  any  draught  of  air,  but  the 
door  opened  into  a  hall  from  which  a  current  of  air 
could  easily  come,  and  this  is  a  common  fact  in  apart- 
ments of  the  kind  in  which  the  family  live.  Assum- 
ing such  a  draught  of  air,  and  with  it,  first,  Mrs. 
D.'s  liability  to  automatisms  and,  second,  the  pos- 
sibility of  subliminal  reasoning,  such  as  Professor 
Newbold  reported  (4  Proceedings  of  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,'  Vol.  12,  pp.  11-21),  we  get  an 
explanation  of  the  automatism  itself  without  resort- 
ing to  the  supernormal,  even  if  we  disregard  the 
possibility  that  it  was  a  chance  suggestion  of  what 
may  be  and  is  a  common  thought  in  the  large  cities  at 
that  time  of  night. 

We  have  now  disposed  of  some  of  the  most  striking 
incidents  of  the  report,  and  there  remains  one  very 
definite  case  not  so  easily  explained  away ;  namely,  the 
automatism  of  the  voice,  "  She'll  never  need  them," 
and  the  precautions  about  matches.  The  considera- 
tion of  the  latter  incident  opens  up  another  aspect  of 
the  problem.  It  loses  its  significance  at  once  when 
we  ascertain,  as  I  did,  that  Mrs.  D.  all  her  life  has 
been  very  careful  about  matches  and  has  often  re- 
53 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

proached  her  husband  for  carelessness  in  this  matter. 
But  there  is  an  aspect  in  the  incident  that  brings 
up  the  problem  of  memory,  and  the  method  which  I 
have  to  criticise  in  the  work  of  Parish. 

From  what  I  have  remarked  about  Mrs.  D.'s  life- 
long habit  of  care  in  regard  to  matches  we  can  easily 
see  that  the  coincidence  between  her  similar  action  just 
previous  to  the  child's  death  and  that  event  itself,  or 
rather  the  supposed  significance  of  it,  is  an  after- 
thought, due  to  the  very  strength  of  the  subject's 
memory  rather  than  its  weakness.  We  may  say  that 
there  is  dissociation  of  the  habit  previous  to  the  time 
of  the  other  automatisms,  and  thus  recognize  a  meas- 
ure of  defense  for  the  contention  of  Parish,  but  with 
the  ordinary  memory  not  commanding  so  many  of  the 
smaller  details  of  life  the  connection  between  the 
caution  about  matches  and  the  accident  to  the  child 
would  hardly  occur.  It  was  probably  the  very  keen- 
ness of  Mrs.  D.'s  memory  that  enabled  her  to  recall 
the  circumstance  which  creates  the  coincidence.  The 
illusion  I  cannot  regard  as  one  of  memory,  but  rather 
as  one  of  apperception  or  judgment,  which  is  likely 
to  occur  with  persons  not  accustomed  to  scientific  ob- 
servation. Had  the  subject  been  antecedently  aware 
that  events  and  experiences  preceding  those  constitut- 
ing the  coincidences  recorded  determined  their  value 
for  or  against  any  hypothesis,  it  is  probable  that  the 
apperception  would  have  been  different.  But  in  the 
absence  of  any  knowledge  of  such  necessary  precau- 
tions the  common  mind  very  naturally  seizes  upon  the 
events  contiguous  in  time  and  apparently  relevant  to 
the  one  which  they  seem  to  portend,  and  the  defect, 
54 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

even  if  complicated  with  some  dissociation,  is  mainly 
one  of  apperception  occasioned  by  the  very  keenness 
of  the  memory  for  the  incidents  of  the  past  which  can 
be  made  to  appear  significant.  Moreover,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  more  striking  coincidental  automatisms 
and  the  memory  of  them  had  much  influence  upon 
the  recall  of  the  feelings  about  fire  and  apperceptively 
distorted  their  significance,  so  that  much  more  than 
illusions  of  memory,  in  fact,  phenomena  much  more 
important  than  they,  have  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
treatment  of  such  reports  as  the  coincidences  in  my 
narrative  represent. 

To  reinforce  the  view  that  the  defects  in  such  a 
narrative  are  likely  to  be  something  else  than  illusions 
of  memory,  I  was  careful  to  keep  a  watch  for  such 
errors.  I  have  watched  for  them  during  the  several 
years  of  my  observations  in  this  particular  case,  and 
have  not  been  able  to  discover  a  single  one.  I  have 
found  cases  of  obliviscence,  and  they  have  been  quite 
interesting  as  enabling  me  to  discover,  by  cross- 
questioning  the  subject,  that  the  source  of  some  of 
the  automatisms  was  an  associative  resurgence  into 
consciousness  of  a  past  experience,  taking  the  form  of 
an  hallucination  without  recognition.  But  when 
recognition  was  made  I  have  found  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  an  illusion  of  memory  had  occurred.  But  at 
the  same  time  this  pious  opinion  of  mine  can  go  for 
very  little  value  to  the  outside  reader.  Hence  I  have 
presented  nothing  here  which  I  did  not  seek  to  cor- 
roborate by  another  witness,  which  in  this  case  is  Mr. 
D.  I  had  also  an  indirect  opportunity  to  confirm  this 
conclusion.  The  story  by  Mrs.  G.,  a  neighbor  of 
55 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  D.'s,  was  the  occasion  of  it.  I  ascertained  the 
facts  of  Mrs.  G.'s  experiences,  as  above  narrated, 
from  her  own  statements,  and  found  that  they  were 
exactly  as  told  me  by  Mrs.  D.  This  instance  afforded 
me  a  good  chance  to  test  Mrs.  D.'s  value  as  a  wit- 
ness and  the  confirmation  of  my  impression  about  her 
in  this  respect,  and  serves,  at  least  negatively,  as  an 
injunction  to  look  far  more  deeply  into  such  narra- 
tives of  striking  experiences  than  the  possibility  of 
mnemonic  illusions  suggests. 

In  the  investigation  of  the  neighbor's,  Mrs.  G.'s, 
experience  which  was  told  as  if  it  might  be  taken  as 
premonitory,  I  came  across  an  interesting  fact  that 
confirms  the  whole  position  here  taken.  I  inquired, 
as  usual,  to  know  whether  similar  fears  about  fire  had 
been  common,  and  besides  a  number  of  instances  of 
such  fear,  I  was  told  of  one  which  Mrs.  G.  described 
as  quite  a  remarkable  '  presentiment.'  To  make  a 
long  story  short,  she  described  the  discovery  of  smoke 
in  the  hall  and  the  suspicion  of  danger  from  fire,  and 
after  warning  her  neighbor  of  her  fear  she  had 
finally  to  call  in  an  officer  of  the  law  to  interfere,  and 
found  that  her  conjecture  was  correct.  Here  is  a 
case  where  the  only  difference  between  the  psychologist 
and  the  common  mind  is  the  choice  of  language. 
'  Presentiment '  is  the  term  chosen  to  express  an  in- 
ference, a  fact  that  reveals  the  frequent  need  for  in- 
vestigation into  the  mental  habits  of  the  individual 
in  order  to  discover  the  real  explanation  of  phenomena 
that  often  appear  remarkable.  This  conclusion,  how- 
ever, is  not  a  new  one,  but  perhaps  very  trite.  Never- 
theless, when  psychical  research  presents  such  an 
56 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

enormous  mass  of  facts  as  its  reports  represent,  it  is 
incumbent  on  the  critic  to  subject  some  equally  good 
cases  to  the  analysis  of  a  personal  investigation,  and 
not  to  rely  exclusively  upon  general  principles  in- 
ductively obtained  from  incidents  that  make  his  argu- 
ment seem  a  priori.  The  criticism  should  be  based 
upon  strictly  analogous  incidents. 

The  automatism,  "  The  end  is  not  yet,"  gets  its  in- 
terpretation from  the  apparently  symbolic  dream  in 
which  E.  was  included  with  the  sister,  who  died,  as 
separated  from  the  mother.  That  it  should  have  any 
meaning  at  all  is  an  afterthought  or  apperception 
created  by  the  coincidental  character  of  instances 
more  suggestive  than  it  and  taken  with  the  remem- 
bered fact  that  Mrs.  D.  has  often  felt  that  E.  might 
be  taken  by  the  trolley  cars.  There  is  an  aspect  to 
this  incident  that  makes  it  like  those  which  I  have  ex- 
plained by  suggested  automatism,  though  it  should 
be  remarked  that  the  narrative  does  not  make  it  any- 
thing more  than  an  association  which  is  very  common 
in  the  city  where  the  family  lives.  The  only  feature 
about  the  impression  that  seems  to  give  it  possible 
meaning  is  the  fact  that  the  same  feeling  of  fear  did 
not  and  does  not  occur  in  reference  to  the  older  boy, 
L.  Hence  taking  the  automatism,  "  The  end  is  not 
yet,"  and  the  symbolic  dream  with  this  impression 
it  might  be  natural  for  the  untrained  psychologist, 
especially  in  connection  with  a  large  number  of  coin- 
cidental experiences  not  mentioned  in  the  present  nar- 
rative, to  wonder  whether  the  circumstance  might  not 
have  an  extraordinary  interest.  On  inquiry  again, 
however,  I  found  that  Mrs.  D.  had  more  confidence  in 
57 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  ability  of  L.  to  take  care  of  himself  than  in  E. 
The  older,  L.,  is  more  independent  and  self-reliant 
than  E.  and  has  thus  been  better  able  to  take  care  of 
himself.  E.  has  always  shown  a  disposition  to  de- 
pend on  his  mother,  and  she  a  solicitude  for  him  that 
she  has  not  felt  for  L.  Now,  if  we  put  together  the 
anxiety  which  every  mother  in  this  particular  city 
feels  for  her  children  who  are  exposed  to  the  dangers 
of  the  trolley  cars,  Mrs.  D.'s  special  concern  for  E., 
and  more  particularly  her  liability  to  automatisms, 
we  have  mental  conditions  that  strongly  favor  the 
occurrence  of  impressions  which  might  be  taken  for 
warnings  of  a  premonitory  kind  with  those  who  have 
felt  the  touch  of  sorrow  in  connection  with  such  a 
collection  of  coincidences  as  I  have  here  recorded.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Mrs.  D.  has  never 
believed  in  premonitions  or  presentiments,  so  that  the 
discovery  of  the  coincidences  was  not  wholly  a  product 
of  apperception  due  to  a  tendency  to  seek  for  them 
in  the  afterthoughts.  On  the  contrary,  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life,  she  and  Mr.  D.  were  amazed  at  the 
extraordinary  character  of  the  incidents  in  this  narra- 
tive, in  spite  of  some  coincidences  of  another  kind  and 
interest  which  I  have  put  on  record  elsewhere,  and 
came  to  me  to  ascertain  whether  I  had  any  ordinary 
explanation  for  them.  Afterthought  and  appercep- 
tion being  shut  out  as  inadequate  to  the  result,  even 
after  allowance  is  made  for  their  participation  in  it, 
we  find,  I  think,  evidence  of  an  extraordinary  combi- 
nation of  emotional  interests  and  a  predisposition  to 
automatisms  to  simulate  supernormal  phenomena. 
Reference  to  the  narrative,  which  shows  such  a  cu- 
58 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    COINCIDENCES 

mulative  mass  of  incidents  at  least  apparently  in  fa- 
vor of  premonition  and  spiritistic  theories,  will  show 
that  I  have  suggested  a  normal  explanation  for  the 
majority  of  them,  and  only  a  few  have  been  omitted 
from  review.  The  incident  of  the  sister  of  Mrs.  D. 
hardly  requires  notice,  as  I  have  not  been  able  to 
apply  the  method  of  studying  her  mental  habits,  and 
it  may  be  too  vague  to  deserve  consideration.  It  was 
mentioned  because  it  at  least  simulated  the  collective 
character  of  incidents  in  the  psychical  research  rec- 
ords, and  in  order  to  give  the  case  all  the  superficial 
cogency  of  which  it  was  capable.  But  it  must  run 
the  gauntlet  of  the  method  applied  to  the  other  inci- 
dents before  any  interest  of  an  extraordinary  kind  is 
attached  to  it.  On  the  other  hand,  I  confess  that  I 
have  not  found  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the 
repeated  automatism,  "  She'll  never  need  them."  But 
if  I  have  broken  the  cumulative  force  of  the  whole 
by  presenting  a  possible  explanation  of  the  majority 
of  the  most  strikingly  spiritistic  cases,  we  may  well 
suspend  judgment  upon  this  one  unexplained  incident. 
The  main  point  has  been  gained  if  I  have  shown  that 
no  extraordinary  amount  of  illusion  and  hallucination 
is  required  to  explain  such  phenomena,  but  that  they 
may  be  made  to  yield  to  a  critical  analysis  of  the  in- 
dividual experience  and  the  usual  processes  of  mind. 
Consequently,  while  we  may  both  admit  and  urge  the 
importance  of  the  position  taken  by  Parish,  we  may 
reserve  to  scepticism  and  scientific  method  a  resource 
much  more  far-reaching  and  effective  than  his,  and, 
when  his  either  breaks  down  or  proves  too  much  by 
casting  doubts  upon  the  accepted  authenticity, 
59 


PSYCHICAL   RESEARCH   AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

methods  and  results  of  previous  science.  If  the  lia- 
bility to  mnemonic  illusion  and  hallucination  be  half 
so  great  in  such  phenomena  as  Parish  criticises,  and 
they  certainly  are  great,  we  should  have  to  revise  the 
results  of  previous  psychology  more  than  the  critics  of 
psychical  research  are  inclined  to  do.  Moreover,  I 
am  disposed  to  think  that  mnemonic  illusion  is  much 
less  frequent  in  extraordinary  experiences  than  in  the 
ordinary,  while  Parish  proceeds  upon  the  assumption 
that  it  is  more  likely  in  the  former.  But  we  must 
remember  that  illusion  and  hallucination  are  a  two- 
edged  sword  and  cut  both  ways.  They  will  discredit 
the  claims  of  the  ordinary  at  least  as  much  as  the 
extraordinary,  and  I  think  more.  Hence,  while  ad- 
mitting their  extreme  importance  in  all  judgments  of 
experience,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  a  far  pro- 
founder  source  of  difficulty  to  psychical  research  can 
be  obtained  in  the  field  which  I  have  here  endeavored 
to  explore,  and  certainly  one  left  open  after  the  other 
fails.  It  is  a  resource,  also,  that  can  be  employed 
only  by  abandoning  all  arrogant  pretensions  to  a 
priori  knowledge  about  such  phenomena,  and  by  con- 
descending to  study  the  individual  case  at  first  hand. 


60 


CHAPTER  III 

"  FROM   INDIA    TO    THE   PLANET    MAES  " 

The  fairies  could  not  have  pleased  Alice  in  Won- 
derland more  than  M.  Flournoy's  book  on  the  medium- 
ship  of  Mile.  Smith  will  please  two  classes  of  readers. 
Those  who  are  looking  for  romances  dealing  with 
the  interest  in  another  world  can  read  this  book  with 
unabated  fascination,  if  they  can  manage  to  shake  off 
all  scientific  encumbrances,  and  if  they  can  escape 
the  author's  explanation  of  his  phenomena.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  sceptic  and  scientific  devotee  can  read 
it  with  the  malicious  delight  of  an  iconoclast  bent  on 
demolishing  the  gods  of  the  spiritualist.  "  From 
India  to  the  Planet  Mars  "  is  a  book  that  has  appeared 
just  at  the  psychological  moment.  The  public  has 
been  prepared  by  the  work  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  and  more  especially  by  the  Piper 
phenomena  and  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson's  report  on 
them,  to  expect  some  sort  of  a  scientific  revelation  re- 
garding another  life,  and  hence  to  find  a  work  appear 
immediately  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  in  a  portion  of 
interstellar  space,  with  the  accompaniment  of  sur- 
vival after  death,  is  an  incident  well  calculated  to 
stimulate  the  imagination  beyond  all  bounds.  In- 
deed, the  situation  in  the  psychological  world,  of  the 
unscientific  sort,  as  met  by  this  book,  may  be  com- 
pared in  some  respects  to  the  age  of  Columbus,  and 
M.  Flournoy's  book  to  that  of  Defoe  on  the  adven- 
61 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tures  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  except  that  Flournoy  care- 
fully dispels  the  illusions  which  he  conjures  up  in  the 
name  of  spiritualism.  Both  the  title  and  the  subject 
matter  suggest  this  comparison. 

It  is  always  the  unknown,  accompanied  by  the  con- 
viction that  there  is  a  reality  in  it  to  be  reduced  to 
the  known,  that  offers  the  most  attractive  field  of  in- 
terest and  exploration  to  the  human  mind,  and  it  mat- 
ters not  whether  it  is  inspected  by  the  philosopher, 
the  scientist,  the  religious  devotee,  the  litterateur,  or 
the  common  man.  All  can  revel  in  it  with  equal  im- 
punity and  delight.  The  discovery  of  Columbus 
found  the  human  mind  in  this  condition.  The  ex- 
istence of  a  new  world  was  itself  a  romance,  and  truth 
could  easily  compete  with  fiction  in  the  supplies  which 
new  knowledge  and  hope  offered  to  an  insatiable 
curiosity.  Homer  and  his  creations  were  disappearing 
in  the  limbo  of  mythology,  and  men  were  fast  becom- 
ing accustomed  to  the  prosaic  life  of  facts,  made  all 
the  more  uninteresting  by  the  increased  struggle  for 
existence  due  to  an  increased  population.  Hence,  a 
new  world  dawned  upon  hope  and  imagination  as  a 
refuge  from  the  problems  of  civilization  and  a  stimu- 
lus to  the  unwearied  flight  which  the  human  mind  is 
wont  to  take  on  the  wings  of  poetry  and  fiction. 

Now,  psychical  research,  even  though  it  may  not 
have  accomplished  as  much  in  the  way  of  discovery  as 
Columbus,  certainly  holds  out  definite  hopes  and 
promises  to  human  interest.  It  has  kept  the  religious 
mind  on  the  qui  v'we  for  evidence  of  its  most  precious 
belief,  while  it  has  offered  to  some  sceptical  convic- 
tions a  refuge  from  despair.  M.  Flournoy  has  taken 
62 


FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MARS 

advantage  of  this  psychological  situation,  even  though 
he  expects  to  disenchant  it,  and  has  couched  his  work 
in  terms  that  must  tempt  the  wary  and  unwary  alike 
into  the  labyrinths  of  a  new  world.  The  ordinary 
spiritualist,  however,  is  walking  into  a  spider's  parlor 
when  he  accepts  this  invitation.  The  book  is  a  thor- 
ough piece  of  scientific  work  in  most  of  its  aspects, 
especially  in  its  exposure  of  the  spiritistic  claims  ad- 
vanced for  his  medium.  It  leaves  little  to  be  desired 
for  the  sceptic.  The  title  simply  invites  you  into  a 
fairy  land,  while  the  discussion  reduces  you  relent- 
lessly to  the  commonplaces  of  ordinary  life  and  illu- 
sion. Nothing  can  rival  the  painstaking  care  with 
which  the  author  has  run  down  every  clue  upon  which 
spiritism  might  rely  for  its  support. 

The  case  is  this.  M.  Flournoy,  Professor  of 
Psychology  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  heard  of  one  of 
the  usual  marvels  in  the  circles  of  spiritism ;  and,  not 
having  any  foolish  dignities  to  respect,  was  not  long 
in  obtaining  an  introduction  to  the  little  coterie  which 
was  "  investigating  "  the  mediumship  of  a  lady  whom 
he  denominates  by  the  pseudonym  "  Mile.  Smith." 
She  was  found  to  be  a  lady  of  considerable  intelli- 
gence, of  irreproachable  character,  honest  and  sin- 
cere, and  ready  to  submit  her  phenomena  to  investiga- 
tion. M.  Flournoy  even  says  that  she  is  beautiful, 
and  that  she  accepts  no  payment  for  her  experiments. 
Both  of  these  qualities  ought  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  scientific  mind.  Mile.  Smith  goes  into  a  trance 
and  purports  to  be  controlled  by  a  spirit  who  calls 
himself  Leopold,  and  claims  to  have  been  Joseph  Bal- 
samo,  the  hero  of  a  book  by  Alexandre  Dumas,  but 
63 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

who  is  better  known  in  history  as  the  famous  Caglios- 
tro.  Besides  him,  there  appear  the  unfortunate 
Queen,  Marie  Antoinette,  a  Hindu  princess  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  and  a  young  man  who  claims  to  be 
reincarnated  on  the  planet  Mars.  The  last-named 
individual  gives  the  language  which,  he  claims,  is 
spoken  on  that  planet,  detailing  both  the  alphabet 
from  which  it  is  constructed  and  its  interpretation  in 
French.  He  describes  the  manners  of  life  there,  and 
draws  representations  of  the  houses  in  which  its  peo- 
ple live  and  specimens  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  or- 
ganisms there  prevalent.  All  of  this  has  a  most  de- 
lightful flavor  of  romance,  and  it  is  given  in  a  detail 
which  cannot  be  expected  here.  The  reader  must  go 
to  the  original  or  to  the  translation  for  a  satisfactory 
account  of  the  facts.  The  latter  is  fortunately  acces- 
sible, and,  I  must  say,  has  been  unusually  well  done. 
The  only  exception  that  can  be  taken  to  it  regards  the 
abbreviation  of  the  original,  which  is  a  misfortune  for 
the  scientific  mind  that  is  either  unable  or  has  not  the 
time  to  examine  the  fuller  account  in  French.  To  the 
one  or  the  other,  however,  I  must  refer  the  reader  for 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  books  of  the  day,  so 
well  calculated  is  it  to  exact  attention  for  the  obscure 
phenomena  of  psychical  research  from  those  who  have 
hitherto  been  content  to  play  the  part  of  scientific 
Philistines. 

In  all  its  external  features,  at  least,  the  case  is  like 
the  many  instances  of  alleged  spirit  control.  Mile. 
Smith  is  wholly  unconscious  of  what  she  does  and  illus- 
trates in  a  remarkable  degree  what  subconscious  men- 
tation can  do  to  imitate  the  requirements  of  reality. 

64 


"  FKOM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MARS  " 

The  impersonations  take  the  form  of  alleged  reincar- 
nations. It  seems  that  spiritualism  expresses  itself 
in  France  in  terms  of  that  doctrine.  The  author  dis- 
cusses three  types  of  it,  the  Martian,  the  Royal,  and 
the  Hindu  cycles.  Each  represents  a  very  plausible 
appearance ;  but  only  one  of  them,  the  Hindu  instance, 
offers  any  serious  difficulty  to  explanation  by  the 
author  along  the  lines  of  normal  psychology  and 
psychiatry.  The  alleged  reincarnation  on  the  planet 
Mars  is  a  remarkable  production;  that  of  Marie  An- 
toinette is  much  less  interesting.  The  Hindu  rein- 
carnation appears  the  most  real,  as  it  contains  some 
features  calculated  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  personal 
identity,  though  explicable  by  stretching  the  hypoth- 
esis of  resurrected  memories.  In  other  words,  ex- 
amination showed  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  evi- 
dence that  spirits  had  anything  to  do  with  the  produc- 
tion of  the  phenomena,  but  that  they  were  the  uncon- 
scious production  of  Mile.  Smith's  own  mind  in  the 
trance  condition,  playing  on  the  obscure  recollections 
of  her  own  experience  and  receiving  its  impulse  to 
do  this  from  her  normal  conviction  that  her  case  was 
spiritistic. 

The  alleged  inhabitant  of  Mars  shows  few,  if  any, 
resources  in  Mile.  Smith's  memory  except  the  most 
general  outlines,  but  the  impersonation  is  exceedingly 
rich  in  the  material  of  spontaneous  fabrication.  In 
fact,  this  particular  case  is  nothing  but  "  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  dream."  The  language,  alphabet,  repre- 
sentations of  houses,  animals  and  plants  are  shown  to 
be  unquestionably  nothing  but  the  production  of  Mile. 
Smith's  imagination  in  this  unconscious  state,  worked 
65 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

out  with  marvelous  originality  and  consistency.  The 
products  find  their  exact  analogy  in  ordinary  dreams. 
The  language  betrays  its  spurious  character  in  its 
constructive  resemblance  to  the  French  which  is  Mile. 
Smith's  native  tongue.  Besides,  there  is  not  a  vestige 
of  anything  leading  to  the  identity  of  the  person  who 
claims  this  reincarnation  on  the  planet  Mars,  and 
nothing  otherwise  that  is  plausible  or  probable.  It  is 
simply  a  pretty  creation  of  the  subliminal  imagina- 
tion, bent  on  producing  something  sufficiently  unlike 
terrestrial  realities  to  deceive  the  unwary ;  and  it  is 
one  of  the  most  appalling  things  in  nature  for  the 
psychologist  and  moralist  to  be  thus  confronted  with 
the  devilish  tendencies  of  unconscious  mental  action. 
We  can  hold  the  normal  consciousness  responsible,  but 
the  subconsciousness  never.  It  seems  constrained  to 
fool  us,  but  is  not  astute  enough  to  accomplish  its 
aim.  It  has,  in  this  instance,  however,  played  a 
wonderful  game,  whose  trickery  it  is  the  merit  of  M. 
Flournoy  to  have  exposed. 

The  impersonation  of  Marie  Antoinette  is  less  re- 
markable in  all  its  superficial  characteristics.  It  has 
no  features  which  are  not  easily  explicable  by  the 
resurrection  of  Mile.  Smith's  own  knowledge  of  that 
unfortunate  queen's  history,  and  the  influence  of  idea- 
tion upon  the  histrionic  representation  of  that  queen's 
manners  and  character. 

M.  Flournoy  confesses  to  some  inexplicable  phe- 
nomena in  the  Hindu  impersonation.  There  are 
traces  of  the  Hindu  language  and  some  remote  his- 
torical incidents  of  a  very  early  period  that  cannot 
be  ascribed  to  the  "  medium's  "  fabricating  imagina- 
66 


FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MAES 

tion.  The  supposition  that  Mile.  Smith  had  at  some 
time  heard  or  seen  enough  of  the  facts,  now  wholly 
forgotten  and  unrecognizable  when  produced,  and 
cropping  up  unconsciously  as  spirit  messages,  seems 
so  improbable  or  difficult  of  proof  that  M.  Flournoy 
admits  being  puzzled.  But  the  entire  success  with 
which  he  discredits  the  alleged  Martian  phenomena, 
lends  its  support  to  the  probability  that  the  Hindu 
impersonation  is  precisely  like  it.  For  me  it  is  not 
specially  puzzling  at  all.  I  think  that  his  theory  of 
secondary  personality  is  more  easily  applied  to  the 
Hindu  case  than  the  author  supposes.  Apparently, 
it  is  the  improbability  that  Mile.  Smith  had  seen  or 
read  the  book  in  which  the  facts  are  found  that  ex- 
cites M.  Flournoy's  wonder.  But,  as  the  amount  of 
the  Hindu  language  delivered  is  very  small,  and  the 
historical  incidents  mentioned  in  that  princess'  life  are 
very  few,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  reading  enough  of 
it  in  some  catalogue,  newspaper,  or  article  to  account 
for  their  appearance  in  this  pseudo-spiritistic  form. 
But  what  is  so  delightful  in  M.  Flournoy's  work  is 
his  scientific  appreciation  of  the  psychological  prob- 
lem before  him,  and  the  thorough  way  in  which  he 
has  proceeded  to  deal  with  it,  at  least  in  all  respects 
that  concern  the  claims  of  spiritism.  Nothing  can 
equal  the  patience  and  perseverance  with  which  he  has 
pursued  every  clue  to  an  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  in  terms  of  what  we  know  in  normal 
psychology.  The  incidents  that  would  strike  the  or- 
dinary mind  as  mysterious,  or  even  miraculous,  are 
easily  reduced  to  simple  and  well-known  phenomena 
of  mind.  Every  nook  and  corner  of  the  case  is  in- 
67 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

vestigated,  and  no  stone  is  left  unturned  for  vestiges 
of  subconscious  mental  action  on  the  part  of  Mile. 
Smith  to  account  for  the  facts,  and  the  success  is  as 
great  as  the  effort.  In  so  far  as  the  evidence  is  con- 
cerned, the  spiritist  is  left  without  any  support  for 
his  theory.  All  this  is  accompanied  with  a  most  de- 
lightful sense  of  humor  and  a  keen  irony  that  might 
be  called  malicious,  if  it  were  not  so  just  and  the 
victims  of  it  so  deserving  of  this  polite  form  of  ridi- 
cule. There  is  apparent  in  some  of  it  a  suppressed 
feeling  of  ridicule  that  may  be  due  to  the  necessity 
of  being  respectful  toward  the  people  whose  kindness 
was  instrumental  in  securing  an  opportunity  to  in- 
vestigate the  case.  The  style  of  presentation  is  most 
charming.  In  fact,  the  work  is  an  excellent  novel  in 
all  but  the  facts,  and,  in  these,  it  is  science  of  the  best 
kind,  wherever  it  applies  psychological  analysis  to 
the  refutation  of  spiritism.  In  this  respect,  it  is  be- 
yond praise,  and  should  be  read  by  every  man  who  is 
tempted  to  dabble  in  that  subject. 

Its  chief  interest,  however,  lies  in  the  influence  that 
it  must  exert  upon  the  general  course  of  psychical 
research.  That  subject  has  been  so  ignored  and  mis- 
understood by  the  scientific  Philistine  that  he  could 
not  be  persuaded  by  any  important  fact  to  touch  it. 
He  passed  it  by  on  the  other  side,  holding  his  nose,  or 
sneering  at  its  alleged  phenomena.  But  M.  Flournoy 
has  taught  this  supercilious  class  a  lesson.  He  has 
shown  that  there  are  phenomena  which  have  all  the 
external  characteristics  of  discarnate  spirits,  and  yet 
are  amenable  to  explanation  without  such  a  resource, 
though  only  on  the  condition  that  the  most  amazing 
68 


"■  FBOM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MAES  " 

subconscious  mental  activity  be  admitted,  and  ad- 
mitted in  a  form  that  shows  no  trace  of  an  automatic 
character.  The  outcome  it  will  be  interesting  to 
watch.  I  shall  expect  the  scientific  Philistine  to  ac- 
cept the  book  with  great  applause,  as  it  affords  such  a 
fine  text  with  which  to  lecture  spiritualism.  Psychical 
research  will  become  at  once  a  very  important  de- 
partment of  investigation. 

Scepticism,  of  course,  is  most  welcome  in  this  sub- 
ject which  leads  so  close  to  the  madhouse,  but  what  a 
comment  on  the  pretended  scientific  spirit,  that  it  will 
give  no  quarter  to  a  subject  until  its  own  precon- 
ceived opinions  have  been  substantiated  by  some  one 
who  has  not  stood  on  his  dignity  in  regard  to  the 
facts. 

But,  in  spite  of  M.  Flournoy's  emphatic  rejection 
of  spiritism,  he  believes  in  telepathy,  or  thought  trans- 
ference, telekinesis,  or  the  movement  of  physical  ob- 
jects without  contact,  and  lucidity,  or  clairvoyance! 
It  is  apparent,  however,  that  he  does  not  rely  wholly 
upon  the  phenomena  of  Mile.  Smith  for  his  convictions 
on  these  subjects.  He  seems  to  indorse  telepathy  on 
the  collective  evidence  published  by  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  and  telekinesis  upon  personal  ex- 
periments with  Eusapia  Palladino.  Clairvoyance  he 
seems  to  adopt  without  any  evidence  that  I  can  dis- 
cover, and  he  combines  telepathy  and  clairvoyance  to 
explain  some  of  his  own  facts,  which  he  fears  might 
otherwise  be  amenable  to  the  spiritistic  theory.  But 
there  is  something  very  strange  in  this  acceptance  of 
these  supernormal  phenomena,  though  M.  Flournoy 
does  not  regard  them  as  supernormal  at  all !  He  puts 
69 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  very  peculiar  meaning  on  this  term.  He  speaks  as 
if  it  were  convertible  with  the  supernatural.  He  con- 
siders these  processes  as  perfectly  natural,  and  in  the 
case  of  telepathy  speaks  of  it  as  something  rather  to 
be  expected  than  doubted!  You  would  suppose  that 
the  "  supernormal "  sustained  the  same  relation  to  the 
"  normal "  that  hyperesthesia  sustains  to  aesthesia ; 
but  no,  it  is  made  equivalent  to  the  supernatural,  and 
this  assumption  simply  annihilates  all  rational  per- 
spective in  the  case.  Let  us  examine  his  position  in 
regard  to  these  several  remarkable  powers,  which  he 
attributes  so  easily  to  the  human  mind  without  sup- 
posing them  to  be  anything  more  than  normal  and 
natural. 

It  must  be  conceded,  at  the  outset,  that  M.  Flour- 
noy  has  investigated  and  analyzed  the  facts  bearing 
upon  these  hypotheses  with  something  like  the  same 
method  and  care  that  he  did  those  claiming  to  be  spir- 
itistic; but  he  is,  nevertheless,  distinctively  less  cau- 
tious in  his  convictions.  He  appears  to  be  so  ready 
to  accept  these  theories  as  natural  and  normal,  that  he 
finds  no  such  reason  to  be  sceptical  as  he  supposes  is 
obligatory  in  regard  to  spiritism.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, his  indorsement  of  Eusapia  Palladino.  He 
does  not  state  a  single  fact  in  proof  of  her  genuine- 
ness. We  have  only  the  author's  ipse  dixit.  This  is 
all  the  more  amazing  after  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson's 
exposure  of  that  clever  fraud.  No  case  of  that  kind 
should  be  admitted  without  letting  us  into  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  facts.  Of  course,  it  can  be  said  that  it  is 
no  part  of  the  present  work  to  discuss  her  phenomena. 
But  this,  taken  in  connection  with  her  exposure,  is  all 
70 


"  FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MARS 

the  more  reason  for  silence  unless  good  evidence  be- 
yond an  ipse  dixit  be  produced.  A  theory  based  upon 
experiments  with  Eusapia  Palladino,  and  designed  to 
explain  some  of  the  phenomena  observed  in  the  case 
of  Mile.  Smith,  should  come  with  far  better  creden- 
tials than  are  here  offered.  The  author's  illusion 
about  the  "  natural  "  betrays  him,  in  this  instance, 
into  a  disposition  to  credit  phenomena  that  are  far 
more  revolutionary  in  physical  science  than  spirits 
can  possibly  be  either  in  physics  or  psychology.  The 
reason  for  this  judgment  I  shall  give  again. 

Let  us  examine  M.  Flournoy's  example  of  telekin- 
esis in  the  case  of  Mile.  Smith.  Two  oranges  were 
found  removed  from  their  places,  under  circumstances 
involving  either  the  dishonesty  or  the  mal-observation 
of  the  witnesses,  as  alternatives  to  explanation  by 
telekinesis.  M.  Flournoy  offers  the  choice  between 
these  hypotheses  and  the  subconscious  action  of  Mile. 
Smith;  though  it  is  evident  that  he  inclines  to  tele- 
kinesis. This  is  fair  enough ;  but  I  am  amazed  to  find 
that  no  such  care  is  taken  to  examine  the  facts  and 
their  conditions  as  was  shown  when  exposing  the 
claims  of  Leopold,  Marie  Antoinette  and  the  myste- 
rious Martian.  There  are  two  ineradicable  defects  in 
the  author's  treatment  of  the  case  here.  First,  he  is 
apparently  ready  to  attach  weight  to  mere  testimony, 
and  that  of  the  parties  interested  in  their  theory. 
Secondly,  he  has  not  applied  carefully  to  the  phenom- 
ena his  own  hypothesis  of  secondary  personality,  while 
that  supposition  seems  to  me  entirely  adequate  to  its 
explanation.  M.  Flournoy  does  not  give  us  the  full 
details,  as  they  should  be  given  in  so  important  a 
71 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

matter.  We  should  know  the  exact  amount  of  time 
involved  in  the  occurrence  of  the  phenomena,  the  occu- 
pation of  the  witnesses,  their  position  in  the  room  and 
in  relation  to  Mile.  Smith,  their  capacities  for  observ- 
ing facts  of  this  sort,  and  every  little  incident  bear- 
ing upon  a  complete  record  of  the  observed  facts. 
But  there  is  not  a  word  of  this,  and  apparently  no 
conception  of  the  necessity  for  such  details.  It  is  all 
the  more  remarkable,  after  the  author's  scepticism  of 
his  witnesses'  testimony  for  spiritism,  that  he  should 
be  less  stringent  in  his  methods  when  it  is  only  a  mat- 
ter of  telekinesis !  Evidently,  this  is  so  natural  and 
normal  a  process  that  it  does  not  need  careful  verifica- 
tion. Moreover,  after  observing,  in  other  connec- 
tions, the  readiness  with  which  Mile.  Smith  passes  into 
and  out  of  a  trance  without  retaining  any  memory  of 
it,  why  does  not  M.  Flournoy  refer  to  this  fact  as 
probably  affording  a  clue  to  the  explication  of  the 
case?  Let  me  mention  the  instance  of  his  walk  with 
Mile.  Smith,  in  which  she  went  into  a  trance,  sug- 
gested visiting  the  house  of  a  friend,  and  awakened  to 
know  nothing  of  it  and  feeling  very  much  embarrassed 
at  her  action.  A  better  instance  of  this  is  that  of 
writing  a  letter.  She  sat  down  to  write  a  note  to  M. 
Flournoy,  and  in  the  midst  of  it  passed  off  into  a 
trance,  and  finished  the  letter  in  the  language  and  in- 
cidents of  one  of  the  subconscious  personalities.  She 
mailed  it,  and  never  knew  anything  regarding  this 
latter  part  of  the  letter  until  the  fact  was  called  to 
her  attention  by  M.  Flournoy. 

Now,  it  would  be  easy  to  apply  the  same  causes 
and  conditions  to  the  explanation  of  the  throwing  of 
72 


"  FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MARS  " 

the  oranges,  especially  in  the  absence  of  all  adequate 
accounts  of  the  circumstances,  and  it  is  surprising 
that  a  man  of  M.  Flournoy's  usual  scientific  acuteness 
has  not  seen  this.  What  is  to  hinder  us  from  suppos- 
ing that  Mile.  Smith  suddenly  passed  into  the  trance 
(a  fact  which  M.  Flournoy  records  over  and  over 
again),  and  threw  the  oranges  without  being  noticed 
by  the  other  persons  in  the  room,  and  then  awoke 
without  any  knowledge  of  her  actions?  M.  Flour- 
noy makes  a  few  general  observations  in  the  direction 
of  such  an  hypothesis,  but  he  does  not  urge  it  with 
the  enthusiasm  displayed  in  applying  the  same  theory 
against  spiritism.  He  seems  to  think  that  telekinesis 
does  not  exact  any  serious  objection  from  belief.  As 
for  myself,  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  think  there  is  one 
iota  of  rational  evidence  for  any  such  phenomena,  and 
I  should  regard  it  as  much  more  exposed  to  scientific 
objections  than  spiritism,  which  he  is  at  so  much  pains 
to  disprove.  The  same  can  be  said  of  clairvoyance. 
I  have  never  seen  any  adequate  evidence  of  such  a 
power,  and  I  think  M.  Flournoy  is  persuaded  to  ac- 
cept it  much  more  because  he  thinks  it  a  weapon  with 
which  to  combat  spiritism  than  on  the  grounds  of 
scientific  evidence. 

I  come  next  to  his  consideration  of  telepathy.  He 
recognizes  that  this  doctrine  is  not  accepted  by  the 
scientific  world  in  any  form  whatever,  but  he  does 
not  flinch  under  this.  His  attitude,  however,  toward 
scepticism  regarding  it  is  very  curious.  He  expresses 
surprise  that  any  one  should  have  difficulties  regard- 
ing it.  This  process  which  the  scientific  world  scouts 
as  absurd,  as  revolutionary  in  both  physics  and 
73 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

psychology,  and  as  supernormal  in  every  sense  of  the 
word,  M.  Flournoy  regards  as  very  probable  a  priori. 
Psychical  research  ought  to  be  very  easy  after  such 
a  verdict  as  this.  It  seems  not  even  necessary  to 
strain  at  camels.  At  any  rate,  the  psychical  re- 
searcher can  stand  and  look  on  with  a  malicious  smile, 
while  the  sceptic  proclaims  without  evidence  that  telep- 
athy is  a  very  probable  thing  and  one  of  the  most 
natural  things  in  the  world.  The  plight  of  M.  Flour- 
noy's  admirers  here  will  be  amusing,  if  they  have 
laughed  at  the  claims  of  telepathy.  They  are  called 
on  to  be  very  sceptical  if  the  phenomena  claim  to  be 
spiritistic,  but  very  credulous  if  they  are  only  tele- 
pathic, telekinetic,  or  clairvoyant! 

I  must  say,  however,  that  I  do  not  share  M.  Flour- 
noy's  tractable  disposition  regarding  telepathy.  I 
do  not  think  it  intrinsically  probable,  nor  easy  to  be- 
lieve on  any  evidence  but  that  afforded  by  the  most 
careful  experiments.  At  its  very  best,  it  is  nothing 
more  than  a  name  for  coincidences,  whose  cause  and 
explanation  are  yet  to  be  determined.  The  popular 
mind  makes  it  a  most  extraordinary  power.  It  is 
endowed  with  unlimited  access  to  the  person's  memory 
whose  mind  is  read.  But  there  is  no  adequate  evi- 
dence for  such  a  process :  in  fact,  there  is  not  one  iota 
of  respectable  evidence  for  it.  The  only  telepathy 
that  can  lay  the  slightest  claim  to  recognition  on 
scientific  grounds,  is  the  transmission  of  present  active 
states  of  consciousness;  and,  in  fact,  it  is  probably 
the  psychical  researchers  alone  who  admit  this  much. 
But  such  a  thing  as  the  selective  telepathy  necessary 
to  reproduce  personal  identity  is  without  any  experi- 
74 


"  FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MARS 

mental  support.  Consequently,  when  a  man  uses  the 
term,  he  must  show  that  he  is  able  to  meet  its  respon- 
sibilities. M.  Flournoy  does  nothing  of  this  kind. 
He  says  enough  to  discredit  telepathy  of  all  kinds  in 
his  treatment  of  the  only  facts  in  his  case  that  could 
possibly  lay  any  claim  to  that  explanation,  and  yet 
considers  it  something  that  may  be  taken  for  granted 
apparently  without  evidence.  But  that  a  man  can 
sit  down  and  gravely  assume,  without  experimental 
proof,  a  sort  of  infinite  access  by  some  subliminal  pro- 
cess to  the  memories  of  any  living  mind  that  the  tele- 
pathic subject  chooses  to  select,  and  yet  claim  to  be 
scientific,  is  something  that  transcends  my  idea  of 
science.  I  do  not  see  why  a  man  should  take  offense 
at  spiritism  after  such  a  leap  as  that. 

It  all  comes  from  the  baseless  assumption  that 
spirits  are  supernatural  and  telepathy  natural.  I 
can  conceive  the  very  reverse  of  this,  namely,  that 
telepathy  should  be  considered  supernatural  and  spirits 
natural.  M.  Flournoy  ought  to  know  that  modern 
idealism  makes  all  talk  about  the  natural  as  useless 
as  the  supernatural.  When  everything  is  natural, 
the  term  has  no  explanatory  value  whatever.  In 
Greek  thought,  when  the  term  was  convertible  with 
the  physical  and  opposed  to  the  immaterial,  it  had 
some  importance ;  but,  the  moment  that  it  became  con- 
vertible with  the  uniform  or  invariably  constant,  it 
lost  its  value  as  an  instrument  for  supporting  a  ma- 
terialistic and  mechanical  view  of  the  cosmos.  But 
to  me  telepathy,  even  in  the  only  form  that  has  any 
scientific,  or  alleged  scientific,  credentials,  so  far  from 
being  natural  in  any  accepted  use  of  that  term  as  a 
75 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

name  for  the  constant  and  uniform,  is  so  exceptional 
as  simply  to  throw  the  reins  loose  to  the  maddest  sort 
of  philosophic  speculation. 

But  let  us  concede  with  M.  Flournoy  that  telepathy 
is  "  natural  "  and  spirits  "  supernatural."  How  can 
he  oppose  telepathy  to  spiritism,  unless  he  qualifies  it 
writh  the  power  to  effect  all  that  might  most  rationally 
be  attributed  to  spirits?  I  make  bold  to  say  that 
there  are  conditions  under  which  a  spiritistic  theory  is 
easier  to  believe  than  the  telepathic.  These  condi- 
tions are  that  the  contents  of  what  purport  to  be  dis- 
carnate  communications  be  appropriate  to  the  proof 
of  personal  identity.  We  should,  of  course,  prefer  to 
know  something  of  the  process  by  which  the  limita- 
tions of  our  access  to  a  transcendental  world  can  be 
overcome.  But,  as  we  must  inductively  form  our 
hypothesis  in  any  case,  all  suppositions  to  bridge 
this  chasm  must  stand  on  the  same  footing ;  and,  if  the 
unity  of  the  phenomena  is  best  represented  by  infer- 
ring the  continuance  of  an  individual  consciousness 
after  death,  we  may  consider  the  process  of  communi- 
cation to  be  what  we  please.  Besides,  even  as  a  con- 
ceded process  telepathy  is  not  anything  that  is  known 
in  the  usual  sense  of  that  term.  It  is  only  a  name  for 
certain  facts  which  require  a  causal  explanation.  It 
is  convenient  for  limiting  evidential  claims,  but  it  is 
not  explanatory.  But  now,  if  telepathy  be  once 
granted  as  a  fact,  no  matter  what  conception  we  take 
of  it  as  a  process,  we  have  a  phenomenon  of  the  trans- 
mission of  thought  independently  of  the  ordinary  im- 
pressions of  sense,  and  we  should  be  violating  no  sci- 
entific principles  if  we  supposed  that,  under  favorable 
76 


"  FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MAES  " 

conditions,  a  transcendental  consciousness  might  be 
able  to  intromit  a  message  into  a  living  mind.  After 
telepathy  is  admitted,  it  is  but  a  question  of  evidence 
to  settle  whether  we  are  probably  in  communication 
with  a  discarnate  spirit.  If  the  phenomena  alleged  to 
be  spirit  messages  represent  what  the  proof  of  per- 
sonal identity  demands,  a  discarnate  consciousness  is 
the  most  natural  supposition  in  the  case.  This  con- 
ception of  the  matter  is  strongly  reinforced  by  the 
fact  that  telepathy  between  the  living,  so  far  as  we 
have  any  right  to  assume  it  at  all,  is  limited  to  the 
present  active  states  of  consciousness,  and  shows  no 
tendency  to  select  its  data  with  reference  to  the  repro- 
duction of  personal  identity,  with  its  synthetic  char- 
acter and  command  of  memory.  With  that  limita- 
tion, we  should  have  to  suppose  the  continuance  of 
consciousness  after  death  to  explain  the  facts.  With- 
out that  limitation,  we  have  a  theory  infinitely  larger 
than  the  spiritistic,  and  wholly  without  any  analogies 
in  either  physics  or  psychology.  Hence,  on  a  priori 
grounds,  I  see  no  reason  for  assuming  any  antagon- 
ism between  the  telepathic  and  the  spiritistic  theories. 
Once  assumed,  unless  its  limits  are  defined,  telepathy 
becomes  an  evidential  difficulty  against  the  spiritistic 
doctrine;  but,  when  it  begins  to  take  on  the  propor- 
tions of  infinitude,  it  plays  into  the  hands  of  its  com- 
petitor, which  conforms  to  the  demand  that  a  process 
shall  be  finite  if  it  expects  scientific  recognition. 

But  it  is  precisely  because  his  data  do  not  represent 

any  evidence  of  personal  identity  that  M.  Flournoy  is 

justified    in    rejecting    the    spiritistic   theory    in    his 

special   case.     It   is  not  because  telepathy   is   either 

77 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  normal  process  or  a  function  incompatible  with  the 
operation  of  discarnate  souls.  Leopold,  Marie 
Antoinette,  and  the  Martian  inhabitant  ought  to  have 
given  us  some  evidence  of  personal  identity,  as  in  the 
"  communicators  "  of  the  Piper  case,  if  Mile.  Smith 
expects  us  to  believe  in  spirits,  and  it  is  their  abso- 
lute failure  to  satisfy  this  demand  that  justifies  M. 
Flournoy's  sceptical  position.  Had  he  treated  telep- 
athy, telekinesis  and  clairvoyance  in  the  same  spirit, 
no  criticism  whatever  could  have  been  directed  against 
his  conclusions.  But  his  tolerance  of  these  theories 
and  the  possible  amenability  of  what  may  be  called 
the  Dandiran,  the  Vignier,  and  the  Burnier  incidents 
to  a  supernormal  explanation,  as  the  author  appar- 
ently squints  toward  that  possibility  owing  to  the 
conjectural  character  of  the  evidence  against  it, 
might  suggest  to  the  spiritist  the  following  hypoth- 
esis. Taking  what  we  know  of  secondary  person- 
ality and  its  various  forms,  we  might  assume  it  to 
be,  as  ordinarily  known,  only  a  transitional  state  to 
the  conditions  which  might  bring  the  subject  into 
communication  with  a  transcendental  world.  But  it 
would  in  all  cases  be  most  naturally  accompanied,  on 
this  supposition,  by  all  sorts  of  difficulties  and  con- 
fusions in  the  communications  from  that  world,  be- 
traying various  abilities  and  inabilities  to  communi- 
cate, and  there  might  be  conditions  in  which  the  whole 
impulse  to  represent  the  facts  as  "  communications  " 
from  that  source  should  come  from  a  transcendental 
stimulus,  while  the  representations  of  the  facts  should 
come  wholly  from  the  subject's  own  mental  action, 
and  be  distorted,  as  secondary  personality  must  in- 
78 


"  FROM    INDIA    TO    THE    PLANET    MARS 

evitably  distort  its  data.  The  whole  of  the  modern 
theory  of  hallucination  supports  this  view.  Hallu- 
cinations are  found  to  be  due  to  what  are  called 
secondary  stimuli  —  that  is,  stimuli  that  are  not  co- 
ordinated with  the  sense  in  which  the  hallucination 
appears,  and  so  are  not  representative  of  the  world 
that  causes  them.  In  such  a  process,  vestiges  of 
spirit  messages  might  slip  through,  and  the  conditions 
affecting  the  possibility  of  communication  present  so 
many  difficulties  that  the  attempt  to  deliver  anything 
genuine  might  have  to  be  given  up.  To  illustrate 
from  his  own  case ;  if  Mile.  Smith's  secondary  person- 
ality can  secure  its  stimulus,  but  not  its  representa- 
tions, from  her  normal  memory  and  experience,  or  con- 
victions, it  is  quite  conceivable  that  the  same  state 
should  receive  its  stimulus,  but  not  its  representation 
of  the  facts,  from  the  transcendental  world,  while  a 
few  veridical,  though  fragmentary,  messages  of  the 
genuine  sort  might  slip  through  in  the  fluctuation  of 
the  conditions  embodied  in  the  secondary  state.  The 
incidents  that  appear  to  be  supernormal  acquisitions 
of  knowledge,  in  the  absence  of  satisfactory  proof 
that  they  are  resurrected  memories  of  Mile.  Smith's 
childhood,  might  be  instances  of  this  success,  obtain- 
able only  on  opportune  occasions,  while  the  conditions 
remain  generally  impervious  to  such  communications. 
In  this  way,  we  might  unify  the  supernormal  aspects 
of  M.  Flournoy's  case  with  those  that  show  such  re- 
markable characteristics  of  secondary  personality. 

I  am,  of  course,  very  far  from  accepting  any  such 
view  of  the  case.     On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  wholly 
an  instance  of  secondary  personality,  and  that  telep- 
79 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

athy,  telekinesis,  and  clairvoyance  should  have  re- 
ceived no  tolerance  in  this  book  where  the  evidence  for 
them  is  wholly  wanting.  But,  if  M.  Flournoy  thus 
accepts  them,  he  must  expect  to  meet  trouble  in  his 
disposal  of  the  Dandiran,  Vignier,  and  Burnier  inci- 
dents, with  which  he  is  evidently  impressed,  in  spite 
of  his  reference  of  them  to  possible  memories  of  his 
medium.  So  far  as  his  evidence  is  concerned,  these 
theories  should  have  received  less  tolerance  at  his 
hands.  It  is  his  illusion  about  their  being  normal  and 
natural  that  leads  him  into  this  course.  Moreover, 
for  a  man  who  so  heartily  rejects  the  supernatural, 
his  invocation  of  sympathy  from  the  orthodox  by  a 
confession  of  faith,  when  he  refuses  to  accept  that 
criterion  in  spiritism  and  applies  the  most  rigid 
criteria  of  scientific  proof,  is  a  contradiction  as  well 
as  an  exhibition  of  pious  cant  unworthy  of  a  man  who 
claims  to  respect  science.  The  only  hope  of  the  re- 
ligious consciousness,  if  it  is  to  reconcile  itself  with 
science,  is  to  be  tolerant  of  spiritism  rather  than  telep- 
athy, telekinesis,  and  clairvoyance,  and  to  abandon 
the  criterion  of  mere  faith  for  that  of  scientific  proof. 
Hence,  having  accepted  the  jurisdiction  of  a  scientific 
court,  the  author  should  have  bowed  to  its  canons. 

Not  to  press  this  criticism,  however,  the  chief  im- 
portance of  the  work  lies  in  its  tendency  to  stimulate 
investigation  of  a  subject  that  has  been  too  long  neg- 
lected. Psychical  research  has  a  grim  Nemesis  and 
scepticism  a  Medusa  head  in  the  author's  admission 
of  telepathy,  telekinesis,  and  clairvoyance,  but  this  sin 
will  not  destroy  the  scientific  merits  of  a  work  that 
offers  our  Philistines  their  only  hope  of  minimizing  the 
significance  of  the  Piper  phenomena. 
80 


CHAPTER  IV 

VISIONS  OF  THE  DYING 

There  is  a  group  of  psychic  phenomena  which  are 
well  worthy  of  a  most  searching  investigation.  I 
refer  to  the  alleged  visions  which  many  dying  persons 
are  said  to  have  had  of  friends  who  have  passed  away 
before  them.  In  some  cases  they  seem  to  have  a  co- 
incidental importance  that  may  give  them  some  scien- 
tific value,  if  well  enough  attested  as  facts. 

It  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that  the  crisis  of 
death  would  often  be  attended  by  all  sorts  of  halluci- 
nations. We  know  how  disease  and  accident  lead  to 
deliria  in  which  all  sorts  of  hallucinatory  experiences 
occur;  and  narcotics  and  anaesthetics  evoke  similar 
phenomena  in  various  degrees.  They  are  but  illus- 
trations of  influences  which  disturb  the  normal  activ- 
ity and  functions  of  the  organism,  so  that  the  non- 
coordination  of  central  functions  results  in  the  simula- 
tion of  realities  by  all  sorts  of  phantasmal  forms. 
Death  is  a  particularly  disintegrating  process  and 
we  should  expect  similar  mental  disturbances  in  its 
progress.  Usually  the  motor  functions  are  so 
paralyzed  by  it  that  we  should  expect  little  evidences 
of  sensory  phantasms.  One  way  of  indicating  what 
dying  experiences  are  in  any  clear  manner,  seems  pos- 
sible and  that  is  by  speech.  When  this  occurs  the 
subject  must  retain  enough  of  his  normal  motor  ac- 
tivity to  give  expression  to  his  mental  experiences. 
81 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Indistinct  indications  may  be  given  by  motor  action 
in  the  eyes.  But  what  we  should  discover  from  ocular 
movements  of  a  dying  person  would  be  doubtful  and 
possibly  capable  of  various  interpretations.  It  would 
be  the  same  with  hearing.  But  when  speech  is  re- 
tained enough  may  be  uttered  for  us  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  the  experience  of  the  dying  person,  and 
occasionally  dying  persons  utter  intelligible  sentences 
which  convey  unusual  information.  It  is  such  that 
ought  to  be  the  subject  of  a  very  careful  investiga- 
tion. I  propose  here  to  suggest  that  a  census  of  them 
might  easily  be  collected  and  made  the  subject  of 
statistical  study  and  psychological  analysis. 

The  interest  which  such  phenomena  may  have  for 
science  will  depend  upon  a  variety  of  considerations. 
The  first  is  that  we  shall  be  able  to  attest  their  exist- 
ence and  their  nature.  The  second  is  that  we  shall 
have  some  reason  to  believe  that  they  have  a  selective 
character  pertinent  to  their  apparent  significance. 
The  third  is  that  we  shall  have  some  means  of  dis- 
tinguishing them  from  those  capricious  and  kaleido- 
scope phenomena  that  are  classifiable  as  ordinary  hal- 
lucinations. The  fourth  is  that  their  characteristics 
shall  suggest  some  coincidental  incidents  not  refer- 
able to  chance  and  at  the  same  time  distinguishable 
from  others  possibly  due  to  subjective  causes.  It  will 
not  be  an  easy  task  to  conduct  such  an  investigation, 
but  it  is  possible  by  long  efforts  and  perseverance  to 
accumulate  facts  enough  for  some  sort  of  study  and 
analysis.  The  method  of  effecting  this  object  will 
be  the  subject  of  discussion  later  in  this  article.  We 
82 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

must  first  describe  the  phenomena  to  which  attention 
needs  to  be  called. 

The  phenomena  which  I  have  in  mind  are  a  type 
of  apparition.  Whatever  their  explanation  they  have 
one  characteristic  which  distinguishes  them  from  ordi- 
nary deliria.  They  represent  the  appearance  of  de- 
ceased persons  to  the  vision,  imagination,  or  other 
source  of  sensory  representation,  of  the  dying  per- 
son. If  we  should  find  that  they  bear  evidences  in 
any  case  of  supernormal  information  they  would 
become  especially  significant.  But  one  of  the  most 
important  things  to  study  in  them  would  be  their  rela- 
tion to  instances  of  hallucination  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances that  had  no  coincidental  value.  That  is, 
we  need  to  study  their  statistical  aspects  which  would 
require  a  comparison  of  the  really  or  apparently  coin- 
cidental cases  with  those  which  are  unmistakably  hal- 
lucinatory and  subjective  in  their  origin.  For  this  a 
large  collection  is  necessary  and  this  can  be  made  with- 
out any  presumptions  regarding  their  explanation. 
I  shall  illustrate  the  kind  which  are  particularly  inter- 
esting and  suggestive.  They  are  as  described  above, 
instances  in  which  dying  persons  seem  to  see  previously 
deceased  friends,  claiming  in  cases  to  be  present  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  passage  of  death.  When 
this  claim  of  assistance  in  the  crisis  of  death  is  made 
it  is  through  mediums  and  it  is  sometimes  or  generally 
made  when  there  has  been  no  evidence  at  the  death 
scene  that  such  a  presence  was  remarked.  I  shall 
give  a  few  illustrations  of  both  kinds. 

The  following  instance  I  received  from  a  corres- 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

pondent  whose  testimony  I  have  no  reason  to  ques- 
tion: 

"  I  called  this  afternoon  (May  14th,  1906)  upon  a 
lady  who  buried  a  nine-year-old  boy  two  weeks  ago. 
The  child  had  been  operated  upon  for  appendicitis 
some  two  or  three  years  ago,  and  had  had  peritonitis 
at  the  same  time.  He  recovered,  and  was  apparently 
quite  well  for  a  time.  Again  he  was  taken  sick,  and 
from  the  first  the  doctor  thinks  he  did  not  expect  to 
get  well.  He  was  taken  to  the  hospital,  and  operated 
upon.  He  was  perfectly  rational,  recognizing  his 
parents,  the  doctor,  and  the  nurse,  after  coming  out 
from  under  the  influence  of  the  anaesthetic.  Feel- 
ing that  he  was  going,  he  asked  his  mother  to  hold  his 
hands,  until  he  should  be  gone.  He  had,  I  forgot  to 
say,  been  given  strong  stimulants  after  the  operation, 
which,  I  suppose,  made  his  mind  very  active. 

Soon  he  looked  up  and  said,  "  Mother,  dear,  don't 
you  see  little  sister  over  there?  " 

"  No,  where  is  she  ?  " 

"  Right  over  there.     She  is  looking  at  me." 

Then  the  mother,  to  pacify  him,  said  she  saw  the 
child.  In  a  few  minutes,  his  face  lighted  up  full  of 
smiles,  and  he  said :  — 

"  There  comes  Mrs.  C (a  lady  of  whom  he 

was  very  fond  who  had  died  nearly  two  years  before), 
and  she  is  smiling  just  as  she  used  to.  She  is  smiling 
and  wants  me  to  come."     In  a  few  moments :  — 

"  There  is  Roy !  I'm  going  to  them.  I  don't 
want  to  leave  you,  but  you'll  come  to  me  soon,  won't 
you?  Open  the  door  and  let  them  in.  They  are 
waiting  for  me  outside,"  and  he  was  gone. 

"  No,  I  forgot  to  tell  about  his  grandmother.  I 
84 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

gathered  the  impression  that  he  did  not  know  his 
maternal  grandmother,  but  may  be  wrong. 

"  As  his  mother  held  his  hands,  he  said :  "  How 
small  you  are  growing.  Are  you  still  holding  my 
hands?  Grandma  is  larger  than  you,  isn't  she? 
There  she  is.  She  is  larger,  isn't  she?  Her  hand  is 
larger  than  yours.  She  is  holding  one  hand  and  her 
hand  is  larger  than  yours. 

"  Remember  that  the  boy  was  but  nine  years  old. 
Did  he  really  see  spirits  and  recognize  them?  Or 
was  it  the  result  of  the  highly  sensitive  condition  of 
the  brain  caused  by  the  medicine?  " 

The  mother  confirms  this  narrative  and  inquiry 
brings  out  the  following  facts.  The  boy  had  never 
known  his  grandmother  who  had  died  twenty  years 
ago.  His  sister  had  died  four  years  before  his  own 
birth.  Roy  is  the  name  of  a  friend  of  the  child  and 
he  had  died  about  a  year  previous. 

It  will  be  apparent  that  the  instance  is  not  in  any 
respect  an  evidential  one.  There  is  no  way  to  displace 
the  assumption  that  the  phenomena  were  hallucina- 
tions until  better  indications  of  their  real  nature  can 
be  obtained  by  further  investigations,  if  that  can  ever 
be  done.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  critical 
condition  of  the  mind  and  body  would  give  rise  to 
these  and  similar  phantasms,  especially  in  certain  kinds 
of  natures.  The  natural  assumption  may  not  be  the 
right  one,  but  it  is  the  only  one  that  science  can  tol- 
erate until  its  credentials  are  better  satisfied  by  evi- 
dences of  the  supernormal.  There  is  nothing  in 
this  instance  that  can  be  verified  as  not  a  natural  and 
85 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

subjective  effect  of  the  conditions  associated  with 
dissolution,  unless  it  be  the  systematic  group  of  de- 
ceased persons  involved.  For  the  physiologist  and  the 
psychologist  this  goes  without  saying,  and  the  men- 
tion of  it  here  is  only  to  emphasize  for  the  general 
reader  the  confident  opinion  which  science  would  en- 
tertain regarding  such  incidents.  Science  might  not 
have  better  evidence  that  this  special  case  is  hallucina- 
tion than  the  believer  in  its  reality  has  for  this 
character,  but  the  mass  of  facts  in  human  experience 
connected  with  abnormal  mental  and  physical  condi- 
tions associated  with  disease  and  death  would  predis- 
pose any  cautious  person  in  favor  of  the  scientific 
interpretation,  as  either  more  probable  or  more  safe  an 
assumption  than  that  in  favor  of  the  other. 

Many  other  cases  of  a  similar  nature  have  come  to 
my  attention,  but  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  have 
a  first-hand  account  made  for  me.  I  remember  that 
my  step-mother  told  me  that  her  mother,  while  dying, 
saw  an  apparition  of  her  husband  who  had  died  many 
years  before.  Such  incidents  are  probably  relatively 
numerous,  but  as  they  are  not  recorded  or  examined 
carefully  they  can  only  be  subjects  of  sceptical  con- 
sideration. 

But  I  have  a  group  of  incidents  which  are  much 
more  suggestive  of  something  unusual  and  possibly 
quite  significant.  Some  of  them  involve  a  record  and 
confirmatory  support  that  gives  them  importance. 
The  first  of  this  group  is  one  dictated  to  me  and  taken 
down  verbatim  by  the  two  persons  who  knew  the  facts. 
They  are  both  intelligent  and  trustworthy  witnesses, 
not  more  liable  to  errors  in  such  things  than  all  of  us. 
86 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

It  involved  circumstances  which  give  peculiar  value  to 
the  incident,  as  the  story  will  vouch  for  itself.  I 
quote  the  narrative  as  I  took  it  down. 

"  Four  or  five  weeks  before  my  son's  death  Mrs. 

S was   with   me  —  she   was   my    friend   and   a 

psychic  ■ —  and  a  message  was  given  me  that  little 
Bright  Eyes  (control)  would  be  with  my  son  who 
was  then  ill  with  cancer.  The  night  before  his  death 
he  complained  that  there  was  a  little  girl  about  his 
bed  and  asked  who  it  was.  This  was  at  Muskoka, 
160  miles  north  of  Toronto.     He  had  not  known  what 

Mrs.  S had  told  me.     About  five  minutes  before 

his  death,  he  roused,  called  his  nurse  for  a  drink 
of  water,  and  said  clearly :  "  I  think  they  are 
taking  me."  Afterward  seeing  the  possible  signifi- 
cance of  this  I  wrote  to  Miss  A and  asked  her  to 

see  Mrs.  S and  try  to  find  why  the  word  "  they  " 

was  used,  underscoring  it  in  the  letter,  as  I  al- 
ways supposed  the  boy's  father  would  be  with  him 

at    death.     Miss    A went   to    see    Mrs.    S , 

and  did  not  mention  the  letter.  When  I  saw  Mrs. 
S more  than  a  week  later  we  were  having  a  sit- 
ting and  Guthrie,  my  son,  came  and  told  me  how  he 
died.  He  said  he  was  lying  on  the  bed  and  felt  he 
was  being  lifted  out  of  his  body  and  at  that  point  all 
pain  left.  His  first  impulse  was  to  get  back  into  his 
body,  but  he  was  being  drawn  away.  He  was  taken 
up  into  a  cloud  and  he  seemed  to  be  a  part  of  it.  His 
feeling  was  that  he  was  being  taken  by  invisible  hands 
into  rarified  air  that  was  so  delightful.  He  spoke  of 
his  freedom  from  pain  and  said  that  he  saw  his  father 
beyond." 


87 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

The  intimate  friendship  of  Mrs.  S with  Mrs. 

G ,  the  mother  of  the  boy,  makes  it  possible  to 

suppose  that  hints  or  suggestions  may  have  been  un- 
consciously conveyed  to  the  boy  before  his  death,  or 
that  something  was  said  at  the  experiment  which 
might  deprive  the  incidents  of  that  importance  which 
they  superficially  seem  to  have.  I  have,  however, 
observed  that  the  two  ladies  are  as  careful  in  their  ac- 
count as  we  should  expect,  and  while  I  cannot  give 
the  narrative  as  much  scientific  weight  as  may  be 
desirable,  I  think  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
main  incidents  are  correct.  The  boy's  experience  of 
a  strange  girl  at  his  bedside,  and  the  allusion  to  the 
plural  of  the  pronoun  are  quite  possibly  correct  ac- 
counts of  the  facts.  A  record  of  the  later  sitting 
would  be  necessary  to  be  assured  that  the  allusion  to 
the  father  was  not  in  response  to  a  suggestion.  But 
in  any  case  the  incident  is  at  least  apparently  su- 
perior evidentially  to  the  first  one  quoted,  and  it  indi- 
cates what  may  be  done  to  assure  ourselves  of  signifi- 
cance in  such  phenomena. 

I  quote  next  a  well  authenticated  instance  on  the 
authority  of  Dr.  Minot  J.  Savage.  He  records  it  in 
his  Psychic  Facts  and  Theories.  He  also  told  me  per- 
sonally of  the  facts  and  gave  me  the  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  the  persons  on  whose  authority  he  tells  the 
incidents.  I  am  not  permitted  to  mention  them.  But 
the  story  is  as  follows : 

"  In  a  neighboring  city  were  two  little  girls,  Jen- 
nie and  Edith,  one  about  eight  years  of  age,  and  the 
other  but  a  little  older.     They  were  schoolmates  and 
intimate  friends.     In  June,  1889,  both  were  taken  ill 
88 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

of  diphtheria.  At  noon  on  Wednesday,  Jennie  died. 
Then  the  parents  of  Edith,  and  her  physician  as 
well,  took  particular  pains  to  keep  from  her  the  fact 
that  her  little  playmate  was  gone.  They  feared  the 
effect  of  the  knowledge  on  her  own  condition.  To 
prove  that  they  succeeded  and  that  she  did  not  know, 
it  may  be  mentioned  that  on  Saturday,  June  8th,  at 
noon,  just  before  she  became  unconscious  of  all  that 
was  passing  about  her,  she  selected  two  of  her  photo- 
graphs to  be  sent  to  Jennie,  and  also  told  her  attend- 
ants to  bid  her  goodbye. 

"  She  died  at  half -past  six  o'clock  on  the  evening 
of  Saturday,  June  8th.  She  had  roused  and  bidden 
her  friends  goodbye,  and  was  talking  of  dying,  and 
seemed  to  have  no  fear.  She  appeared  to  see  one 
and  another  of  the  friends  she  knew  were  dead.  So 
far  it  was  like  the  common  cases.  But  now  suddenly, 
and  with  every  appearance  of  surprise,  she  turned  to 
her  father,  and  exclaimed,  '  Why,  papa,  I  am  going 
to  take  Jennie  with  me ! '  Then  she  added,  '  Why, 
papa!  Why,  papa!  You  did  not  tell  me  that  Jen- 
nie was  here ! '  And  immediately  she  reached  out  her 
arms  as  if  in  welcome,  and  said,  '  O,  Jennie,  I'm  so 
glad  you  are  here.'  " 

As  Dr.  Savage  remarks  in  connection  with  the 
story,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  account  for  this  incident  by 
the  ordinary  theory  of  hallucination.  We  have  to 
suppose  a  casual  coincidence  at  the  same  time,  and 
while  we  might  suppose  this  for  any  isolated  case  like 
the  present  one,  the  multiplication  of  them,  with 
proper  credentials,  would  suggest  some  other  expla- 
nation, whatever  it  might  be. 

I  shall  turn  next  to  two  instances  which  are  asso- 
89 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

dated  with  the  experiments  and  records  of  Mrs. 
Piper.  They  both  represent  the  allegation  of  death- 
bed apparitions,  and  statements  through  Mrs.  Piper 
purporting  to  represent  communications  from  the  de- 
ceased showing  a  coincidence  with  what  was  otherwise 
known  or  alleged  to  have  taken  place  at  the  crisis  of 
death.  The  records  in  these  cases  are  unusually  good, 
having  been  made  by  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson.  I  quote 
his  reports.  The  first  instance  is  the  experience  of  a 
man  who  gives  only  initials  for  his  name,  but  was 
well  known  to  Dr.  Hodgson.  It  occurred  at  a  sitting 
with  Mrs.  Piper. 

"About  the  end  of  March  of  last  year  (1888)  I 
made  her  (Mrs.  Piper)  a  visit  —  having  been  in 
the  habit  of  so  doing  since  early  in  February,  about 
once  a  fortnight.  She  told  me  that  the  death  of  a 
near  relative  of  mine  would  occur  in  about  six  weeks, 
from  which  I  should  realize  some  pecuniary  advan- 
tages. I  naturally  thought  of  my  father,  who  was 
in  advanced  years,  and  whose  description  Mrs.  Piper 
had  given  me  very  accurately  a  week  or  two  pre- 
viously. She  had  not  spoken  of  him  as  my  father, 
but  merely  as  a  person  nearly  connected  with  me.  I 
asked  her  at  this  sitting  whether  this  person  was  the 
one  who  would  die,  but  she  declined  to  state  any- 
thing more  clearly  to  me.  My  wife,  to  whom  I  was 
then  engaged,  went  to  see  Mrs.  Piper  a  few  days 
afterward,  and  she  told  her  (my  wife)  that  my  father 
would  die  in  a  few  weeks. 

About  the  middle  of  May  my  father  died  very  sud- 
denly in  London  from  heart  failure,  when  he  was  re- 
covering from  a  very  slight  attack  of  bronchitis,  and 
on  the  very  day  that  his  doctor  had  pronounced  him 
90 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

out  of  danger.  Previous  to  this  Mrs.  Piper  (as  Dr. 
Phinuit)  had  told  me  that  she  would  endeavor  to  in- 
fluence my  father  about  certain  matters  connected 
with  his  will  before  he  died.  Two  days  after  I  re- 
ceived the  cable  announcing  his  death  my  wife  and 
I  went  to  see  Mrs.  Piper,  and  she  (Dr.  Phinuit)  spoke 
of  his  presence,  and  his  sudden  arrival  in  the  spirit 
world,  and  said  that  he  (Dr.  Phinuit)  had  endeav- 
ored to  persuade  him  in  these  matters  while  my  father 
was  sick.  Dr.  Phinuit  told  me  the  state  of  the  will, 
and  described  the  principal  executor,  and  said  that 
he  (the  executor)  would  make  a  certain  disposition 
in  my  favor,  subject  to  the  consent  of  the  other  two 
executors  when  I  got  to  London,  England.  Three 
weeks  afterward  I  arrived  in  London  and  found  the 
principal  executor  to  be  the  man  Dr.  Phinuit  had  de- 
scribed. The  will  went  materially  as  he  (Dr. 
Phinuit)  had  stated.  The  disposition  was  made  in 
my  favor,  and  my  sister,  who  was  chiefly  at  my 
father's  bedside  the  last  three  days  of  his  life,  told 
me  that  he  had  repeatedly  complained  of  the  presence 
of  an  old  man  at  the  foot  of  his  bed,  who  annoyed 
him  by  discussing  his  private  affairs." 

The  reader  will  remark  that  the  incident  is  asso- 
ciated with  a  prediction,  but  it  is  not  the  subject  of 
important  observation  at  present.  The  chief  point 
of  interest  is  that  the  prediction  is  connected  with  a 
reference  to  a  will  affecting  private  business  matters, 
that  the  sister  reported  a  number  of  visions  or  ap- 
paritions on  the  man's  death-bed,  and  that  subsequent 
to  his  death,  not  known  apparently  to  Mrs.  Piper, 
the  statement  was  made  by  Dr.  Phinuit  that  he  had  in- 
fluenced or  tried  to  persuade  the  man  in  reference  to 
91 


PSYCHICAL   RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

these  matters.  The  coincidence  is  unmistakable  and 
the  cause  is  suggested  by  the  very  nature  of  the  phe- 
nomena and  the  conditions  under  which  they  occurred. 
But  we  should  have  a  large  mass  of  such  incidents  to 
give  the  hypothesis  something  like  scientific  proof. 

The  next  case  is  a  most  important  one.  It  is  con- 
nected with  an  experiment  by  Dr.  Hodgson  with  Mrs. 
Piper,  as  was  the  previous  one,  and  came  out  as  an 
accidental  feature  of  the  sitting.  The  account  is 
associated  in  his  report  with  incidents  quoted  by  him 
in  explanation  of  the  difficulty  and  confusion  accom- 
panying real  or  alleged  communications  from  the 
dead.  It  will  be  useful  to  quote  the  Report  on  that 
point  before  narrating  the  incident  itself,  as  the  cir- 
cumstances associated  with  the  facts  are  important 
in  the  understanding  of  the  case,  while  they  also  sug- 
gest a  view  of  the  phenomena  which  may  explain  the 
rarity  of  them. 

"  That  persons  l  just  deceased,'  "  says  Dr.  Hodg- 
son, "  should  be  extremely  confused  and  unable  to 
communicate  directly,  or  even  at  all,  seems  perfectly 
natural  after  the  shock  and  wrench  of  death.  Thus 
in  the  case  of  Hart,  he  was  unable  to  write  the  second 
day  after  death.  In  another  case  a  friend  of  mine, 
whom  I  may  call  D.,  wrote,  with  what  appeared  to  be 
much  difficulty,  his  name  and  the  words,  '  I  am  all 
right  now.  Adieu,'  within  two  or  three  days  of  his 
death.  In  another  case,  F.,  a  near  relative  of  Mad- 
ame Elisa,  was  unable  to  write  on  the  morning  after 
his  death.  On  the  second  day  after,  when  a  stranger 
was  present  with  me  for  a  sitting,  he  wrote  two 
or  three  sentences,  saying,  '  I  am  too  weak  to  artic- 
92 


VISIONS    OP    THE    DYING 

ulate  clearly,'  and  not  many  days  later  he  wrote  fairly 
well  and  clearly,  and  dictated  to  Madame  Elisa  (de- 
ceased), as  amanuensis,  an  account  of  his  feelings  at 
finding  himself  in  his  new  surroundings." 

In  a  footnote  Dr.  Hodgson  adds  an  account  of 
what  this  Madame  Elisa  communicated  regarding  the 
man.  I  quote  this  in  full.  Referring  to  this  F.  and 
Madame  Elisa,  he  says :  — 

"  The  notice  of  his  death  was  in  a  Boston  paper, 
and  I  happened  to  see  it  on  my  way  to  the  sitting. 
The  first  writing  of  the  sitting  came  from  Madame 
Elisa,  without  my  expecting  it.  She  wrote  clearly 
and  strongly,  explaining  that  F.  was  there  with  her, 
but  unable  to  speak  directly,  that  she  wished  to  give 
me  an  account  of  how  she  had  helped  F.  to  reach 
her.  She  said  that  she  had  been  present  at  his  death- 
bed, and  had  spoken  to  him,  and  she  repeated  what 
she  had  said,  an  unusual  form  of  expression,  and  indi- 
cated that  he  had  heard  and  recognized  her.  This  was 
confirmed  in  detail  in  the  only  way  possible  at  the 
time,  by  a  very  intimate  friend  of  Madame  Elisa  and 
myself,  and  also  of  the  nearest  surviving  relative  of 
F.  I  showed  my  friend  the  account  of  the  sitting, 
and  to  this  friend  a  day  or  two  later,  the  relative, 
who  was  present  at  the  death-bed,  stated  spon- 
taneously that  F.,  when  dying  said  that  he  saw  Mad- 
ame Elisa,  who  was  speaking  to  him,  and  he  repeated 
what  she  was  saying.  The  expression  so  repeated, 
which  the  relative  quoted  to  my  friend,  was  that 
which  I  had  received  from  Madame  Elisa  through 
Mrs.  Piper's  trance,  when  the  death-bed  incident  was 
of  course  entirely  unknown  to  me." 

The  apparent  significance  of  such  a  coincidence  is 
93 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

evident,  and  though  the  entire  number  which  I  have 
quoted  are  not  sufficient  to  afford  alone  the  proof  of 
survival  after  death  they  are  indicative  of  events 
which  demand  a  most  careful  investigation.  If  there 
be  such  a  thing  as  a  transcendental  spiritual  world  and 
if  we  actually  survive  in  our  personality  after  death 
we  might  naturally  expect  some  connection  between 
the  two  sets  of  cosmic  conditions,  at  least  occasionally, 
supposing,  of  course,  that  the  chasm  between  them 
is  not  too  great  to  be  spanned.  The  existence  of  a 
large  mass  of  facts  alleging  such  a  connection, 
though  these  facts  are  relatively  few  in  comparison 
with  the  cases  of  silence  regarding  the  beyond,  is  a 
circumstance  which  would  suggest  searching  for  inci- 
dents during  the  passage  of  death  that  might  repre- 
sent a  rare  connection  between  the  two  worlds  in  this 
critical  period.  We  could  not  expect  them  to  be  fre- 
quent a  priori,  but  we  should  not  expect  two  worlds, 
closely  enough  related  for  the  individual  to  retain  his 
identity,  to  wholly  exclude  communications  in  articulo 
mortis.  If  anything  like  it  actually  appeared  to 
occur  we  should  endeavor  to  ascertain  how  much  evi- 
dence exists  for  the  credibility  of  the  occurrence  in 
sufficiently  numerous  cases  to  establish  the  truth  of 
the  actual  connection,  or  to  confirm  other  types  of 
incident  pointing  toward  the  same  conclusion.  The 
phenomena  are  too  suggestive  in  many  ways  to  leave 
their  occurrence  unnoticed  and  uninvestigated. 

Professor  Bozzano,  in  the  Annals  of  Psychical  Sci- 
ence,  gives  twenty-two  cases  in  all,  three  of  which 
are  found  in  this  discussion.     I  quote  a  few  of  them 
to  add  to  the  collective  force  of  the  evidence  in  such 
94 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

cases  of  supernormal  experiences.  It  would  be  an 
injudicious  appropriation  of  material  to  reproduce 
the  entire  essay,  but  its  merit  and  interest  offer  a 
great  temptation  to  do  so  for  readers  who  may  not  be 
able  to  see  the  publication  which  presents  them.  I 
must  content  myself,  however,  with  a  choice  of  the 
best  cases  in  illustration  of  a  more  frequent  phenom- 
enon than  the  few  instances  that  I  have  quoted 
might  indicate.  The  most  forcible  ones  are  those 
which  may  be  called  collective  instances,  that  is,  ap- 
paritions seen  by  more  than  one  person. 

The  first  instance  is  taken  from  the  life  of  the 
Rev.  Dwight  L.  Moody,  the  celebrated  evangelical 
preacher  of  the  United  States,  written  by  his  son. 
In  it  his  last  moments  are  described  as  follows :  — 

"  Suddenly  he  murmured :  '  Earth  recedes,  heaven 
opens  up  before  me.  I  have  been  beyond  the  gates. 
God  is  calling.  Don't  call  me  back.  It  is  beautiful. 
It  is  like  a  trance.     If  this  is  death  it  is  sweet.' 

Then  his  face  lit  up  and  he  said  in  a  voice  of  joy- 
ful rapture :  '  Dwight !  Irene !  I  see  the  chil- 
dren's faces  '  (referring  to  two  little  grandchildren, 
gone  before).  Turning  to  his  wife  he  said, 
'  Mamma,  you  have  been  a  good  wife  to  me,'  and  with 
that  he  became  unconscious." 

Mr.  Alfred  Smedley,  on  pp.  50  and  51  of  his  book, 
Some  Reminiscences,  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  last  moments  of  his  own  wife :  — 

"  A  short  time  before  her  decease,  her  eyes  being 
fixed  on  something  that  seemed  to  fill  her  with  pleas- 
ant surprise,  she  exclaimed :     '  Why !  there  is  sister 
95 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Charlotte  here;  and  mother  and  father  and  brother 
John  and  sister  Mary !  And  now  they  have  brought 
Bessie  Heap ! !  They  are  all  here.  Oh  !  how  beauti- 
ful! Cannot  you  see  them?'  she  asked.  '  No,  my 
dear ;  I  very  much  wish  I  could,'  I  answered.  '  Can- 
not you  see  them  ?  '  she  again  asked  in  surprise :  '  why 
they  are  all  here,  and  they  are  come  to  bear  me  away 
with  them.  Part  of  our  family  have  crossed  the  flood, 
and  soon  the  other  part  will  be  gathered  home,  and 
then  we  shall  be  a  family  complete  in  heaven.' 

"  I  may  explain  here  that  Bessie  Heap  had  been 
the  trusted  family  nurse,  and  my  wife  had  always 
been  a  favorite  with  her. 

"  After  the  above  ecstatic  experience  she  lingered 
for  some  time.  Then  fixing  her  gaze  steadily  upward 
again,  and  lifting  up  her  hands,  she  joined  the  con- 
voy of  angel  friends  who  had  come  to  usher  her  into 
that  brighter  spiritual  world  of  which  we  had  learned 
so  little." 

Dr.  Paul  Edwards  wrote  as  follows  in  April,  1900, 
to  the  Editor  of  Light:  — 

"  While  living  in  a  country  town  in  California  ( U. 
S.  A.)  about  the  year  1887,  I  was  called  upon  to  visit 
a  very  dear  lady  friend  who  was  very  low  and  weak 
from  consumption.  Everyone  knew  that  this  pure 
and  noble  wife  and  mother  was  doomed  to  die,  and  at 
last  she  herself  became  convinced  that  immediate  death 
was  inevitable,  and  accordingly  she  prepared  for  the 
event.  Calling  her  children  to  her  bedside  she  kissed 
each  in  turn,  sending  them  away  as  soon  as  goodbye 
was  said.  Then  came  the  husband's  turn  to  step  up 
and  bid  farewell  to  a  most  loving  wife,  who  was  per- 
fectly clear  in  her  mind.  She  began  by  saying: 
96 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

*  Newton  '  (for  that  was  his  Christian  name)  .  .  . 
'  do  not  weep  over  me,  for  I  am  without  pain  and  am 
wholly  serene.  I  love  you  upon  earth,  and  shall  love 
you  after  I  have  gone.  I  am  fully  resolved  to  come 
to  you  if  such  a  thing  is  possible,  and  if  it  is  not 
possible  I  will  watch  you  and  the  children  from 
Heaven,  where  I  will  be  waiting  when  you  all  come. 
My  first  desire  now  is  to  go.  .  .  .  I  see  people 
moving  —  all  in  white.  The  music  is  strangely  en- 
chanting —  Oh !  here  is  Sadie ;  she  is  with  me  —  and 
—  she  knows  who  I  am.'  Sadie  was  a  little  girl  she 
had  lost  about  ten  years  before.  '  Sissy ! '  said  the 
husband,  '  you  are  out  of  your  mind.'  '  Oh,  dear ! 
why  did  you  call  me  here  again  ?  '  said  the  wife ; 
'  now  it  will  be  hard  for  me  to  go  away  again ;  I  was 
so  pleased  while  there  — •  it  was  so  delightful  —  so 
soothing.'  In  about  three  minutes  the  dying  woman 
added :  '  I  am  going  away  again  and  will  not  come 
back  to  you  even  if  you  call  me.' 

"  This  scene  lasted  for  about  eight  minutes,  and  it 
was  very  plain  that  the  dying  wife  was  in  full  view  of 
the  two  worlds  at  the  same  time,  for  she  described  how 
the  moving  figures  looked  in  the  world  beyond,  as  she 
directed  her  words  to  mortals  in  this  world. — , 
I  think  that  of  all  my  death  scenes  this  was 
the  most  impressive  —  the  most  solemn." 

Dr.  Wilson,  of  New  York,  who  chanced  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  last  moments  of  James  Moore,  the  tenor, 
gives  the  following  narrative :  — 

"  It  was  about  four  o'clock,  and  the  dawn  for  which 

he  had  been  watching  was  creeping  in  through  the 

shutters,  when,  as  I  bent  over  the  bed,  I  noticed  that 

his  face  was  quite  calm  and  his  eyes  clear.     The  poor 

97 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

fellow  looked  up  into  my  face,  and,  taking  my  hand 
in  both  of  his,  he  said :  *  You've  been  a  good  friend 
to  me,  doctor.  You've  stood  by  me.'  Then  some- 
thing which  I  shall  never  forget  to  my  dying  day 
happened ;  something  which  is  utterly  indescribable. 
While  he  appeared  perfectly  rational  and  as  sane  as 
any  man  I  have  ever  seen,  the  only  way  that  I  can 
express  it  is  that  he  was  transported  into  another 
world  and  although  I  cannot  satisfactorily  explain  the 
matter  to  myself,  I  am  fully  convinced  that  he  had 
entered  the  Golden  City  —  for  he  said  in  a  stronger 
voice  than  he  had  used  since  I  had  attended  him: 
'  There  is  mother !  Why,  mother,  have  you  come 
here  to  see  me?  No,  no,  I'm  coming  to  see  you.  Just 
wait,  mother,  I  am  almost  over.  I  can  jump  it. 
Wait,  mother.'  On  his  face  there  was  a  look  of  inex- 
pressible happiness,  and  the  way  in  which  he  said  the 
words  impressed  me  as  I  have  never  been  before,  and 
I  am  as  firmly  convinced  that  he  saw  and  talked  with 
his  mother  as  I  am  that  I  am  sitting  here. 

"  In  order  to  preserve  what  I  believed  to  be  his 
conversation  with  his  mother,  and  also  to  have  a  rec- 
ord of  the  strangest  happening  of  my  life,  I  imme- 
diately wrote  down  every  word  he  had  said.  .  .  . 
His  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  deaths  I  have  ever 


To  the  cases  above  referred  to,  I  will  add  the  fol- 
lowing case  reported  by  F.  W.  H.  Myers,  which,  al- 
though substantially  different  from  the  preceding 
ones,  resembles  the  last  one  in  that  a  death  was  an- 
nounced by  an  apparition  of  a  deceased  person :  — 

"  Mr.  Lloyd  Ellis  had  symptoms  of  lung  disease  at 
the  time  (of  his  father's  death),  but  not  to  a  degree 
98 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

to  lead  his  friends  to  expect  a  fatal  termination  soon. 
But  his  health  declined  rapidly  towards  the  end  of 
the  year,  and  in  the  month  of  January,  1870,  he  was 
in  a  dying  state. 

"  Lying  in  an  apparent  sleep  one  night  (one  Mon- 
day night,  I  believe)  he  woke  up  suddenly  and  asked 
his  mother:  'Where  is  my  father?'  She  answered 
him  tearfully :  '  Lloyd  dear,  you  know  your  dear 
father  is  dead.  He  has  been  dead  for  more  than  a 
year  now.'  'Is  he?' — he  asked,  incredulously  — 
'  why!  he  was  in  the  room  just  now,  and  I  have  an 
appointment  with  him,  three  o'clock  next  Wednesday.' 
And  Lloyd  Ellis  died  at  three  o'clock  on  the  follow- 
ing Wednesday  morning." 

The  following  case  was  reported  by  the  Rev.  C.  J. 
Taylor,  a  member  of  the  Society  for  Psychic  Re- 
search. 

"  November  2nd,  1885. —  On  November  2nd  and 
3rd,  1870,  I  lost  my  two  eldest  boys,  David  Edward 
and  Harry,  in  scarlet  fever,  they  being  then  three  and 
four  years  old,  respectively. 

"  Harry  died  at  Abbot's  Langley  on  November 
2nd,  fourteen  miles  from  my  vicarage  at  Aspley ; 
David  the  following  day  at  Aspley.  About  an  hour 
before  the  death  of  this  latter  child  he  sat  up  in  bed, 
and  pointing  to  the  bottom  of  the  bed,  said  distinctly : 
'  There  is  little  Harry  calling  to  me.'  It  has  been 
said  that  the  child  said :  '  He  has  a  crown  on  his 
head,'  but  I  do  not  remember  this  myself;  but  I  was 
so  overcome  with  grief  and  weariness  from  long 
watching,  that  I  may  have  let  it  escape  me.  But  of 
the  truth  of  this  first  fact  I  am  sure,  and  it  was  heard 
also  by  the  nurse."  {Signed:  X.  Z.,  Vicar  of  H.) 
99 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

In  letters  and  conversations  with  Mr.  Podmore,  Mr. 
Taylor  adds  the  following  details :  "  Mr.  Z.  tells  me 
that  care  was  taken  to  keep  David  from  knowing  that 
Harry  was  dead  and  that  he  feels  sure  that  David  did 
not  know  it.  Mr.  Z.  was  himself  present,  and  heard 
what  the  boy  said.  The  boy  was  not  delirious  at  the 
time." 

The  next  case  was  communicated  to  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Macdonald, 
who  had  it  at  first  hand  from  Miss  Ogle,  sister  of 
the  percipient. 

"  Manchester,  November  9th,  1884- —  My  brother, 
John  Alkin  Ogle,  died  at  Leeds,  July  17th,  1879. 
About  an  hour  before  he  expired  he  saw  his 
brother,  who  had  died  about  sixteen  years  before,  and 
looking  up  with  fixed  interest,  said :  '  Joe !  Joe ! ' 
and  immediately  after  exclaimed  with  ardent  surprise : 
'  George  Hanley  ! '  My  mother,  who  had  come  from 
Melbourne,  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles,  where 
George  Hanley  resided,  was  astonished  at  this,  and 
turning  to  my  sister-in-law,  asked  if  anybody  had 
told  John  of  George  Hanley's  death.  She  said,  *  No 
one,'  and  my  mother  was  the  only  person  present  who 
was  aware  of  the  fact.  I  was  present  and  witnessed 
this."  (Signed:  Harriet  H.  Ogle.)  In  answer  to 
inquiries,  Miss  Ogle  states :  "  J.  A.  Ogle  was  neither 
delirious  nor  unconscious  when  he  uttered  the  words 
recorded.  George  Hanley  was  an  acquaintance  of 
John  A.  Ogle,  not  a  particularly  familiar  friend. 
The  death  of  Hanley  was  not  mentioned  in  his  hear- 
ing." 

100 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING  101 

The  following  three  cases  are  reported  in  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research. 

"  In  November,  1864,  I  was  summoned  to  Brigh- 
ton. My  aunt  Harriet  Pearson  was  then  very  ill 
there.  .  .  .  She  slept  in  a  large,  three-windowed 
bedroom  over  the  drawing-room.  The  room  behind 
was  occupied  by  Mrs.  Coppinger  and  myself,  though 
one  of  us  was  generally  in  the  patient's  room  at  night. 
On  the  night  of  December  22nd,  1864,  Mrs.  John 
Pearson  was  in  the  room,  Mrs.  Coppinger  and  myself 
in  the  back  room;  the  house  was  lighted  up  on  the 
landings  and  staircases ;  our  door  wide  open.  About 
one  or  two  on  the  morning  of  December  23rd,  both 
Mrs.  Coppinger  and  myself  started  up  in  bed;  we 
were  neither  of  us  sleeping,  as  we  were  watching  every 
sound  from  the  next  room.  We  saw  someone  pass  the 
door,  short,  wrapped  up  in  an  old  shawl,  a  wig  with 
three  curls  on  each  side  and  an  old  black  cap.  Mrs. 
Coppinger  called  out :  '  Emma,  get  up,  it  is  old 
Aunt  Ann  '  (a  deceased  sister  of  the  sick  woman).  I 
said:  *  So  it  is,  then  Aunt  Harriet  will  die  to-day.' 
We  jumped  up,  and  Mrs.  John  Pearson  came  rushing 
out  of  the  room  and  said :  *  That  was  old  Aunt  Ann. 
Where  is  she  gone  to?  '  I  said  to  soothe  her:  '  Per- 
haps it  was  Eliza  come  down  to  see  how  her  mistress 
is.'  Mrs.  Coppinger  ran  upstairs  and  found  Eliza 
sleeping  in  the  servants'  room.  She  was  very  awe- 
struck but  calm,  and  dressed  and  came  down.  Every 
room  was  searched,  no  one  was  there.  .  .  .  Miss 
Harriet  died  in  the  evening  of  that  day,  but  before 
that  told  all  of  us  that  she  had  seen  her  sister  and 
knew  it  was  she,  and  she  had  come  to  call  her." — 
Emma  M.  Pearson  ;  confirmed  by  Eliza  Quinton. 

"  Mrs.  Caroline  Rogers,  72  years  old,  a  widow  who 
101 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

had  been  twice  married,  and  whose  first  husband,  a 
Mr.  Tisdale,  died  about  thirty-five  years  ago,  has  lived 
on  Ashland  Street,  in  Roslindale,  Mass.,  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years;  and  since  the  death  of  her  last 
child,  some  years  ago,  she  has  lived  quite  alone. 
Early  in  March  of  this  year  she  was  stricken  with 
paralysis,  and  after  an  illness  of  nearly  six  weeks 
died  on  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  April  15th. 

"  Mrs.  Mary  Wilson,  a  professional  nurse,  45  years 
old,  attended  Mrs.  Rogers  during  her  illness,  remain- 
ing with  her  almost  constantly  until  she  died.  She 
had  never  seen  Mrs.  Rogers  before  the  tatter's  illness, 
and  knew  nothing  of  her  family  or  history.  Mrs. 
Rogers  spoke  frequently  to  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  also 
to  others,  as  has  long  been  her  custom,  of  her  second 
husband,  Mr.  Rogers,  and  of  her  children,  expressing 
a  desire  to  see  them  again,  etc. 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  April  14th,  Mrs.  Rogers  be- 
came unconscious,  and  remained  so  all  the  time  until 
her  death  twenty-four  hours  later.  Mrs.  Wilson  sat 
up  with  her  the  whole  night,  and  .  .  .  was  pretty 
well  worn  out  with  her  long  vigil ;  believing  that  Mrs. 
Rogers  was  dying,  she  was  naturally  very  nervous 
and  timid;  and  having  heard  Mrs.  R.  speak  fre- 
quently of  seeing  her  departed  friends,  etc.,  she  had 
a  feeling  of  expectancy  and  dread  with  regard  to 
supernatural  visitations.  Between  2  and  3  a.  m., 
while  her  daughter  was  asleep,  and  while  she  was 
resting  on  the  settee,  but  wide  awake,  she  happened  to 
look  toward  the  door  into  the  adjoining  chamber  and 
saw  a  man  standing  exactly  in  the  door-way,  the  door 
being  kept  open  all  the  time.  He  was  middle-sized, 
broad-shouldered,  with  shoulders  thrown  back,  had  a 
florid  complexion,  reddish-brown  hair  (bareheaded) 
and  beard,  and  wore  a  brown  sack  overcoat,  which  was 
102 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

unbuttoned.  His  expression  was  grave,  neither  stern 
nor  pleasant,  and  he  seemed  to  look  straight  at  Mrs. 
Wilson,  and  then  at  Mrs.  Rogers  without  moving. 
Mrs.  Wilson  supposed,  of  course,  that  it  was  a  real 
man,  and  tried  to  think  how  he  could  have  got  into 
the  house.  Then,  as  he  remained  quite  motionless, 
she  began  to  realize  that  it  was  something  uncanny, 
and  becoming  frightened,  turned  her  head  away  and 
called  her  daughter,  who  was  still  asleep  on  the  couch, 
awakening  her.  On  looking  back  at  the  door  after 
an  interval  of  a  minute  or  two,  the  apparition  had  dis- 
appeared; both  its  coming  and  going  were  noiseless, 
and  Mrs.  Rogers  remained  perefectly  quiet,  and,  so 
far  as  could  be  known,  entirely  unconscious  during 
this  time.  The  chamber  into  which  this  door  leads 
being  dark,  there  was  no  opportunity  to  observe 
whether  or  not  the  apparition  was  transparent.  Mrs. 
Wilson  shortly  afterwards  went  into  this  chamber  and 
the  living  room,  but  did  not  examine  the  lower  part 
of  the  house  until  morning,  when  the  doors  were  found 
properly  locked  and  everything  all  right. 

"  In  the  morning,  Mrs.  Rogers'  niece,  Mrs.  Hil- 
dreth,  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood,  and  had  known 
Mrs.  R.  and  her  family  life  many  years,  called  at  the 
house.  Mrs.  Wilson  related  her  experience  to  her  and 
asked  if  the  apparition  resembled  Mr.  Rogers  and 
Mrs.  Hildreth  replied  emphatically  that  it  did  not. 
(All  who  knew  Mr.  Rogers  are  agreed  on  this  point.) 
Their  conversation  was  interrupted  then,  but  when  re- 
sumed later  in  the  day,  Mrs.  Hildreth  said  that  Mrs. 
Wilson's  description  agreed  exactly  with  Mr.  Tisdale, 
Mrs.  Rogers'  first  husband.  Mrs.  Rogers  came  to 
Roslindale  after  marrying  Mr.  Rogers  and  Mrs.  Hil- 
dreth is  the  only  person  in  that  vicinity  who  ever  saw 
Mr.  Tisdale;  and  in  Mrs.  Rogers'  house  there  is  no 
103 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

portrait  of  him  nor  anything  suggestive  of  his  per- 
sonal appearance.  Mrs.  Wilson  is  also  very  positive 
that  the  apparition  was  unlike  anyone  she  ever  knew." 
—  Mary  Wilson. 

The  following  incidents  are  taken  from  the  same 
source  as  the  previous  ones.  It  was  communicated  by 
a  Mrs.  B.,  who  was  known  to  Mr.  Podmore.  In  re- 
lation to  the  death  of  her  own  mother,  Mrs.  B.  nar- 
rates the  following,  among  other  particulars. 

"  My  youngest  sister,  since  dead,  was  called  to  my 
mother,  and  left  Devonshire,  where  she  was  staying 
with  friends,  to  come  home.  When  she  arrived  at 
home  she  entered  the  drawing  room,  but  rushed  out 
terrified,  exclaiming  that  she  had  seen  god-mamma, 
who  was  seated  by  the  fire  in  my  mother's  chair.  God- 
mamma  had  been  dead  since  1852.  She  had  been  my 
mother's  governess  —  almost  foster-mother ;  had  lived 
with  her  during  her  married  life,  being  god-mother  to 
her  eldest  girl,  and  when  my  father  died  had  ac- 
cepted the  duty  of  taking  his  place  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  family,  to  shield  her  from  trouble  and  protect 
her  — ■  a  duty  which  she  fulfilled  nobly. 

"  My  other  sister  went  into  the  drawing-room  to 
see  what  had  scared  K.,  and  saw  the  figure  of  god- 
mamma  just  as  K.  had.  Later  in  the  day,  the  same 
figure  stood  by,  then  sat  on  the  edge  of  my  mother's 
bed,  and  was  seen  by  both  my  sisters  and  the  old  serv- 
ant, looking  just  as  she  had  when  alive,  except  that 
she  wore  a  gray  dress,  and,  as  far  as  we  could  remem- 
ber, she  had  always  worn  black.  My  mother  saw  her, 
for  she  turned  towards  her  and  said :     '  Mary  ' —  her 


104 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

The  next  case  is  reported  by  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson 
and  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  same  Society. 

"  January  £8th,  1891.  About  eleven  years  ago 
I  was  much  distressed  owing  to  the  illness  of  my 
wife,  who  suffered  from  cancer  in  the  stomach.  I 
heard  about  a  medium,  Miss  Susie  Nickerson  White, 
who  was  said  to  have  given  some  remarkable  tests, 
and  I  called  on  her  as  a  stranger  and  requested  a  sit- 
ting. My  wife's  sister  purported  to  '  control,'  giv- 
ing her  name,  Maria,  and  mentioning  facts  about  my 
family  which  were  correct.  She  also  called  my  wife 
by  her  name,  Eliza  Anne,  described  her  sickness,  and 
said  that  she  would  pass  over,  but  not  for  some 
months.  I  said :  *  What  do  you  call  this  ?  Is  it 
psychology,  or  mesmerism,  or  what  ?  '  Maria  said, 
'  I  knew  you  were  going  to  ask  that ;  I  saw  it  in  your 
mind.'  I  said :  '  Do  you  get  all  things  out  of  my 
mind  ? '  She  replied :  '  No.  I'll  tell  you  some 
things  that  are  not  in  your  mind.  Within  three  days 
Eliza  Anne  will  say  that  she  has  seen  me  and  mother, 
too,  if  I  can  get  mother  to  come  along.'  (My  wife's 
mother  had  died  about  forty-five  years  previously,  and 
my  wife's  sister  had  been  dead  from  six  to  eight 
years. ) 

"  I  kept  these  circumstances  to  myself,  but  within 
three  days  the  nurse  who  was  in  attendance  upon  my 
wife  came  running  to  me  and  said  that  my  wife  was 
worse,  and  was  going  out  of  her  mind ;  that  she  had 
called  upon  Maria  and  mother,  and  had  sprung  out  of 
bed  and  run  towards  the  door,  crying:  *  Stop, 
Maria !     Stop,  mother !     Don't  go  yet ! ' 

"  I  soon  consulted  Miss  White  again,  and  Maria 
again  purported  to  control.  My  wife  had  been  un- 
able for  some  days  to  retain  any  food  in  her  stomach, 
105 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

could  not  even  keep  water  or  milk,  and  was  very  weak 
and  also  unable  to  sleep.  Maria  told  me  to  give  her 
some  hot,  very  strong  coffee,  with  plenty  of  cream 
and  sugar,  and  some  cream  toast.  This  prescription 
amazed  me,  but  it  was  prepared.  My  wife  ate  and 
drank  with  relish,  and  slept  soundly  afterwards.  She 
lived  upon  this  food  for  some  days,  but  gradually  be- 
came unable  to  take  even  this.  I  consulted  Miss 
White  again,  and  Maria  told  me  to  get  some  limes, 
and  to  give  my  wife  some  pure  juice  of  the  lime  sev- 
eral times  a  day ;  she  said  that  this  would  give  her  an 
appetite  and  enable  her  to  retain  food.  The  prescrip- 
tion was  a  success ;  but  gradually  my  wife  failed,  and 
I  consulted  Miss  White  again  and  asked  Maria  how 
long  my  wife  would  continue  to  suffer.  She  said  she 
could  not  tell  exactly  when  she  would  pass  away,  but 
would  give  me  a  warning :  *  The  next  time  she  says 
she  has  seen  me,  don't  leave  her  afterwards.' 

"  Some  days  after,  as  I  was  relieving  the  nurse 
about  three  or  four  in  the  morning,  the  nurse  said: 
'  Mammie '  (meaning  my  wife)  'says  she  has  seen 
Maria  again.'  In  a  few  minutes  my  wife  said :  '  I 
must  go.'  And  she  expired." —  E.  Paige ;  Mary  A. 
Paige,  formerly  Mary  Dockerty,  the  nurse. 

The  object,  therefore,  in  calling  attention  to  the 
incidents  which  I  think  impressive  is  to  urge  an  or- 
ganized effort  to  certify  a  larger  number  of  them, 
if  this  be  possible.  What  is  urged  is  that  efforts  be 
made  to  report  for  record  all  the  death-bed  visions 
and  utterances  that  may  possibly  bear  upon  the  issue 
suggested  in  such  as  we  have  quoted.  I  would  pro- 
pose that  all  persons  interested  in  the  work  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research  report  all  such 
106 


VISIONS    OF    THE    DYING 

experiences  as  have  come  under  their  notice.  In  this 
way  a  census  of  them  can  at  least  be  initiated.  To 
this  method  I  hope  to  add  some  means  of  inducing 
physicians  in  their  private  practice  to  be  on  the 
watch  for  them  and  to  report  them  to  the  proper  per- 
sons. We  may  ultimately  induce  physicians  in  the 
hospitals  to  instruct  nurses  and  officers  to  make  ob- 
servations and  to  record  all  experiences  of  an  hallu- 
cinatory character  or  otherwise.  In  any  case  they 
will  be  rare,  but  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  issue 
there  is  no  other  way  to  give  our  convictions  a  scien- 
tific character. 

The  cases  which  I  have  mentioned  show  interesting 
coincidences  and  are  too  suggestive  to  disregard  the 
opportunity  to  collect  similar  instances  with  a  view 
to  their  study  in  detail.  We  must  expect  the  largest 
number  of  them  to  be  non-evidential,  that  is,  to  repre- 
sent facts  which  are  not  verifiable  in  respect  to  the 
other  side.  But  if  they  can  be  obtained  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  exclude  chance  in  respect  of  the  persons 
said  to  appear  in  such  apparitions  we  may  have  a  sci- 
entific product.  To  exclude  chance  we  need  to  com- 
pare them  with  visions  that  do  not  represent  the  dis- 
carnate  as  thus  appearing,  but  that  may  be  treated 
as  casual  hallucinations.  Hence  we  shall  want  to  take 
account  of  all  types  of  dying  experiences  as  ob- 
served by  the  living.  It  will  be  especially  important 
to  have  records  from  those  who  were  thought  to  be 
very  ill  or  dying  and  recovered,  who  may  describe  pe- 
culiar experiences  in  conditions  bordering  on  death. 
It  is  therefore  hoped  that  my  readers  will  call  atten- 
tion to  any  such  cases  that  may  have  come  within 
107 


PSYCHICAL    EESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

their  knowledge  and  to  aid  in  securing  a  record  of 
them.  The  extension  of  the  inquiry  to  hospitals  and 
asylums  will  require  time  and  such  interest  as  physi- 
cians may  be  induced  to  take  in  collecting  data  for 
study.  But  a  good  beginning  can  be  made  inde- 
pendently of  the  more  organized  effort  to  obtain  rec- 
ords. The  present  article  is  simply  an  appeal  for 
assistance  in  an  important  investigation.  The  inter- 
esting incidents  quoted  seem  to  be  inexplicable  by 
chance  and  a  large  number  of  similar  cases  would 
more  certainly  exclude  it  from  consideration. 


108 


CHAPTER  V 

experiments  with  mrs.   piper  since  dr.  richard 
Hodgson's  death 

I  summarize  here  some  results  of  experiments  since 
the  death  of  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson.  They  of  course 
implicate  Mrs.  Piper,  but  I  do  not  mean  to  confine 
the  phenomena  to  what  has  occurred  through  her. 
The  reason  for  this  is  apparent.  The  scientific  scep- 
tic would  not  easily  be  convinced  by  any  alleged  mes- 
sages from  Dr.  Hodgson  through  that  source.  He 
wishes  to  be  assured  that  Mrs.  Piper  had  no  means  of 
knowing  the  facts  which  illustrate  the  personal  iden- 
tity of  real  or  alleged  communicators  before  accept- 
ing even  telepathy  as  an  explanation.  I  must  there- 
fore respect  this  attitude  in  quoting  any  facts  which 
show  intelligence  of  a  kind  not  referable  to  guessing 
or  chance  coincidence.  It  is  not  that  any  suspicion  of 
Mrs.  Piper's  honesty  is  to  be  entertained  at  this  late 
day,  as  the  past  elimination  of  even  the  possibility 
of  fraud  as  well  as  the  assurance  that  she  has  not 
been  disposed  to  commit  it  are  sufficient  to  justify 
ignoring  it.  But  our  troubles  have  not  been  wholly 
removed  when  we  have  merely  eliminated  the  right  to 
accuse  her  of  fraud.  A  far  more  complicated  objec- 
tion arises  and  this  is  the  unconscious  reproduction  of 
knowledge  acquired  in  a  perfectly  legitimate  way. 
Dr.  Hodgson  had  been  so  long  associated  with  Mrs. 
Piper  that  we  cannot  know,  without  having  his  own 
109 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ante-mortem  statement,  what  he  may  casually  have 
told  her  about  himself  and  his  life.  It  is  easy  to  ex- 
clude previous  knowledge  of  total  strangers,  but  a 
man  who  had  worked  for  eighteen  years  in  experiment 
with  Mrs.  Piper  is  exposed  to  the  suspicion  that  he 
may  have  told  many  things  to  her  in  a  casual  man- 
ner which  may  turn  up  in  unconscious  simulation  of 
his  personality.  I  do  not  here  concern  myself  with 
that  hypothesis  of  many  unscientific  people  who  think 
that  Mrs.  Piper's  mind  has  drawn  telepathically  into 
it  the  personality  and  memories  of  Dr.  Hodgson  pre- 
vious to  his  death  and  can  at  pleasure  afterwards 
reproduce  them  and  palm  them  off  as  spirits.  Any 
one  who  can  believe  such  a  thing  without  an  iota  of 
evidence  for  it  can  believe  anything.  I  shall  not 
treat  seriously  such  an  hypothesis  until  it  conde- 
scends to  produce  at  least  some  evidence  for  itself 
commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  its  claims.  I 
am  not  attracted  by  miracles  as  long  as  a  perfectly 
simple  theory  will  explain  the  facts,  and  hence  I 
should  be  much  more  impressed  by  either  fraud  or 
secondary  personality  than  by  any  such  credulous 
acceptance  of  the  supernatural,  for  supernatural  of 
a  most  astonishing  kind  it  would  be.  Under  the 
known  circumstances  it  is  far  easier  to  suppose  that 
Mrs.  Piper  might  have  casually  acquired  information 
from  her  conversations  with  Dr.  Hodgson  and  that 
the  trance  state  produces  it  in  spiritistic  forms. 
That  is  the  real  difficulty  which  the  scientific  man  has 
to  face. 

For  this  reason  I  shall  have  to  exercise  great  cau- 
tion in  selecting  the  facts  which  are  probably  free 
110 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.     PIPER 

from  this  suspicion.  In  doing  so  I  shall  assume  that 
the  reader  knows  what  has  been  done  to  protect  Mrs. 
Piper's  seances  from  the  accusation  of  conscious  fraud 
on  her  part.  All  this  will  be  taken  for  granted  in  the 
present  narrative,  and  such  facts  selected  as  are 
most  likely  to  be  representative  of  supernormal  infor- 
mation. In  the  instances  implicating  other  psychics 
besides  Mrs.  Piper  we  shall  have  facts  which  may  help 
to  protect  those  coming  from  her.  Upon  these  spe- 
cial stress  may  be  laid,  but  some  of  those  "  communi- 
cated "  through  Mrs.  Piper  are  so  forceful  in  illus- 
tration of  personal  identity  and  so  difficult  to  have 
been  in  any  way  ascertained  by  Mrs.  Piper,  when  we 
know  how  cautious  and  reticent  Dr.  Hodgson  actually 
was  about  his  affairs  to  her,  that  they  will  serve  to 
allay  a  natural  curiosity  of  the  public  which  demands 
such  communications,  if  the  theory  which  Dr.  Hodg- 
son held  before  his  death  is  to  be  considered  as  true. 
I  believe  that  this  interest  has  its  rights  and  that  an 
organization  like  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
receiving  the  funds  of  its  members,  owes  something 
to  them  in  return,  and  while  it  must  maintain  a  cer- 
tain reserve  in  the  publication  of  its  facts  it  is  easy 
to  postpone  this  duty  beyond  all  rational  limits. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  publish  the  detailed  record 
of  experiments,  for  we  may  well  abbreviate  results  to 
merely  illustrate  the  type  of  facts  which  we  have  in 
our  possession. 

I  repeat  that  the  reader  must  assume  that  I  have 

allowed  for  the  usual  and  simple  objections  to  the 

phenomena    which    I    mean    here    to    summarize.     I 

should  admit   frankly  that,  if   I  were   dealing   with 

111 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ordinary  professional  mediums  the  facts  which  I  ex- 
pect to  narrate  would  have  no  evidential  or  scientific 
importance.  It  is  because  they  follow  a  long  history 
of  accredited  facts  that  they  derive  at  least  a  sugges- 
tive value.  The  reader  may  entertain  the  account  as 
one  of  hypothetical  importance  and  await  the  investi- 
gation of  cases  where  the  same  reservations  will  not 
have  to  be  maintained. 

Again  before  starting  on  the  facts  which  are  to 
serve  as  evidence  of  something  supernormal  in  the 
communications  purporting  to  come  from  Dr.  Hodg- 
son, I  must  remind  the  reader  that  we  can  give  only 
the  most  trivial  incidents.  We  are  not  engaged  in 
the  recording  and  parading  about  of  great  revela- 
tions. This  must  not  be  expected.  We  are  employed 
in  a  scientific  problem  which  is  one  of  evidence  and 
only  the  most  trivial  circumstances  will  serve  as  proof 
of  the  hypothesis  which  seems  to  be  illustrated  in  the 
phenomena  of  Mrs.  Piper.  If  we  are  to  believe  in 
the  spiritistic  theory  to  account  for  her  case,  or  to 
explain  any  other  phenomena  supposed  to  be  pro- 
duced by  the  discarnate,  we  cannot  forget  that  the 
primary  problem  is  the  proof  of  personal  identity. 
If  a  spirit  claims  to  communicate  or  produce  phenom- 
ena not  easily  explicable  by  ordinary  methods  it 
must  prove  its  identity  and  must  communicate  little 
trivial  incidents  in  its  past  earthly  life  which  cannot  be 
guessed  and  which  are  not  common  to  the  lives  of  other 
people.  In  other  words  we  must  have  supernormal  in- 
formation and  such  a  quantity  as  well  as  quality  of 
it  as  will  make  the  spiritistic  theory  more  probable 
112 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.     PIPER 

than  any  other.  Ethical  or  other  revelations  are 
worthless  for  this  problem  and  have  to  be  discarded, 
whatever  other  interest  psychological  or  philosophical 
they  may  have.  Hence  readers  must  not  be  disap- 
pointed if  we  insist  on  concentrating  their  attention 
upon  the  incidents  that  prove  personal  identity  and 
the  supernormal  character  of  the  information  con- 
veyed through  Mrs.  Piper.  When  we  have  reason  to 
accept  the  supernormal  and  to  believe  that  its  selective 
reference  to  the  personality  of  deceased  persons  makes 
survival  after  death  probable,  we  may  take  up  the 
other  problems,  but  we  cannot  do  more  than  one  thing 
at  a  time. 

One  of  the  early  incidents  in  the  communications 
through  Mrs.  Piper  purporting  to  come  from  Dr. 
Hodgson  implicates  another  psychic  to  a  slight  extent. 
Dr.  Hodgson  and  I  had  made  an  experiment  with  a 
certain  young  lady,  who  had  mediumistic  powers 
and  who  was  not  a  professional  psychic,  nearly  a  year 
before  his  death.  A  short  time  after  his  decease  a 
friend  was  having  a  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper  and  in 
the  course  of  the  communications  —  to  be  called  this 
on  any  theory  of  them  —  the  friend  asked  if  he 
would  communicate  with  her  through  any  other 
"  light,"  the  term  used  by  the  trance  personalities  to 
denote  a  medium.  The  reply  substantially  was: 
"  No,  I  will  not,  except  through  the  young  light. 
She  is  all  right."  Later  in  the  sitting  one  of  the 
trance  personalities  or  controls,  referring  to  this  told 
the  sitter  that  I  (Hyslop)  understood  to  whom  this 
referred,  giving  my  name.  Dr.  Hodgson  added  to 
113 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

his  statement  that,  as  soon  as  he  recovered  from  the 
shock  of  death  he  had  examined  the  case  and  found 
it  all  right. 

Now  Dr.  Hodgson  and  I,  with  the  parents  and  one 
or  two  relatives,  were  all  that  knew  anything  about 
this  case.  The  sitter  and  others  associated  with  the 
experiment  in  Boston  did  not  know  the  meaning  of 
the  incident  and  reference.  When  I  was  informed  of 
it,  the  matter  was  made  perfectly  clear.  It  is  true 
that  Dr.  Hodgson,  while  living  and  after  our  ex- 
periment with  the  young  lady,  had  mentioned  the  case 
without  names  to  the  trance  personalities  so  that  at 
least  Mrs.  Piper's  subliminal  can  be  supposed  to  have 
been  aware  of  the  facts  sufficiently  to  deprive  the  inci- 
dent of  the  evidential  value  which  we  would  like  it  to 
have.  But  the  most  striking  incident  is  one  that  in- 
volves a  cross  reference  with  this  young  lady.  The 
father  carefully  kept  the  knowledge  of  Dr.  Hodg- 
son's death  from  his  daughter  and  very  soon  after  his 
death  and  about  the  time  of  the  incident  just  men- 
tioned wrote  me  that  they  had  had  a  sitting  with  the 
daughter  and  that  the  control  had  said  he  had  seen 
Dr.  Hodgson.  This  coincides  with  his  statement 
through  Mrs.  Piper  that  he  had  examined  the  case  and 
found  it  all  right. 

Another  incident  of  some  interest  is  the  following. 
We  had  been  working  together  in  behalf  of  the  plan 
which  we  are  now  putting  into  execution  since  his 
death,  namely,  the  formation  of  an  independent  Amer- 
ican Society.  We  had  met  the  second  summer  before 
at  Putnam's  Camp  in  the  Adirondacks  to  talk  it  over 
and  did  so,  agreeing  there  upon  the  main  outlines  of 
114 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

the  scheme.  It  was  our  intention  to  talk  the  matter 
over  again  last  summer  (1905)  at  the  same  place, 
more  especially  with  reference  to  points  not  touched 
on  in  our  first  interview  which  was  occupied  with  the 
main  outlines.  But  he  was  not  at  the  camp  when  I 
called  and  I  missed  him.  He  then  wrote  me  that 
he  would  either  return  to  Boston  by  way  of  New  York 
or  make  a  special  trip  to  New  York  after  his  return 
to  settle  matters.  He  was  prevented  doing  this  as 
soon  as  he  had  expected  and  at  last  decided  that  he 
would  come  after  the  holidays.  Less  than  two  weeks 
before  this  he  was  in  his  grave.  Hence  the  reader 
will  appreciate  the  following  communications. 

After  alluding  to  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  new 
world  beyond  death,  a  circumstance  wholly  worthless 
for  any  rational  purposes  in  this  discussion,  he 
changed  the  subject.  I  quote  the  record,  putting 
what  I  said  in  parentheses  and  what  was  written  auto- 
matically by  Mrs.  Piper  without  enclosure  of  any 
kind. 

"  I  will  now  refer  to  the  meeting  I  proposed  having 
before  I  came  over. 

(When  was  the  meeting  to  be?) 

"  I  suggested  having  a  meeting  in  New  York,  at 
the  — 

(Yes,  that  is  right.) 

"  No  one  could  know  about  these  plans  better  than 
yourself. 

(That  is  right.) 

"  Do  you  remember  my  desire  to  publish  my  report 
next  season.     Yes,  extracts. 

(About  whom  were  the  extracts?) 
115 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

"  I  wish  to  publish  extracts  about  our  telepathic 
experiments. 

(All  right.  That  was  not  what  I  was  thinking 
about.     But  go  ahead.) 

"  I  also  wished  to  publish  extracts  about  the  spirit 
side  of  test  experiments  and  my  theory  in  answer  to 
some  criticism  I  recall  from  Mrs.  Sidgwick." 

Now  it  was  a  part  of  Dr.  Hodgson's  plan  to  have 
his  reply  to  Mrs.  Sidgwick's  strictures  on  his  report 
in  1899  ready  for  the  first  publication  of  the  new 
movement.  We  had  agreed  upon  this.  We  may 
suppose  that  Mrs.  Piper  knew  of  his  desire  to  reply 
to  Mrs.  Sidgwick,  but  hardly  of  his  plan  to  meet  me 
and  talk  over  the  matter  in  New  York  which  had  been 
quietly  arranged.  The  allusion  to  "  telepathic  ex- 
periments "  is  intelligible  only  in  the  light  of  the  fact 
that  Mrs.  Sidgwick  in  her  criticism  admitted  the  prob- 
ability that  in  Dr.  Hodgson's  Report  he  had  a  rec- 
ord of  frequent  telepathic  or  other  form  of  com- 
munication from  the  dead,  though  through  the  sub- 
liminal mental  action  of  Mrs.  Piper.  But  Mrs.  Sidg- 
wick could  not  accept  what  Dr.  Hodgson  had 
called  the  "  possession  "  theory  of  the  process.  His 
probable  intention  in  his  reply  to  her  was  to  quote  the 
record  of  telepathic  experiments  in  the  Society's  Pro- 
ceedings to  show  that  the  analogies  between  them  and 
the  Piper  phenomena  could  not  be  sustained.  How- 
ever that  may  be  it  is  a  relevant  point  in  the  prob- 
lem, and  his  special  conversation  with  me  turned  upon 
the  selection  of  extracts  from  the  records  to  show 
that  his  theory  of  the  matter  was  defensible.  He  had 
no  occasion  to  reply  to  her  attitude  of  the  spirit 
116 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

hypothesis,  as  she  had  tacitly  conceded  this  and  only 
disputed  his  view  of  the  process.  He  and  I  had  fre- 
quently talked  over  his  reply  and  I  had  called  his  at- 
tention to  an  important  point  he  could  make  in  it 
from  the  failure  of  one  of  the  Piper  Reports  to  quote 
the  record  in  full,  actually  leaving  out  a  sentence 
which  was  the  clue  to  the  whole  difficulty  in  the  com- 
munication. 

On  the  occasion  when  we  visited  the  "  young  light  " 
we  also  had  some  sittings  with  a  case  of  alleged  in- 
dependent voices.  I  had  reached  the  city  a  few  days 
previous  to  Dr.  Hodgson  and  in  order  to  test  the 
genuineness  of  the  claims,  in  accordance  with  a  request 
of  my  host,  I  used  a  liquid  to  put  in  the  psychic's 
mouth,  as  the  experiments  had  to  be  conducted  in  pitch 
darkness.  In  the  communications  through  Mrs. 
Piper,  Dr.  Hodgson  interrupted  some  allusions  to  the 
effect  of  death  upon  the  memory  and  continued. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  our  experiments  with  a  so- 
called  light  when  you  took  a  bottle  of  red  liquid. 

(Very  good.  You  know  what  a  noise  that  man 
has  made.) 

"  I  do.     I  know  all  about  it. 

(I  have  had  some  controversy  with  a  friend  of  his.) 

"Recently? 

(Yes,  recently.  Now  can  you  answer  a  question? 
Tell  me  who  it  was  or  all  you  can  recall  about  it.) 

"  Yes,  which  ?  I  remember  our  meeting  there.  I 
can  remember  the  liquid  experiment  which  was  capital. 
I  also  recall  an  experiment  when  you  tied  the  handker- 
chief. 

(I  do  not  recall  it  at  this  moment.) 
117 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

"  What's  the  matter  with  you? 

(I  have  tied  a  handkerchief  so  often.) 

"  Remember  the  voice  experiment? 

(Yes,  I  remember  that  well.  That  was  when  the 
liquid  was  used.) 

"  I  am  referring  to  it  now.  I  know  it  perfectly 
well,  but  no  one  else  does. 

(Yes,  that's  right.) 

"  I  remember  how  she  tried  to  fool  us. 

(Yes,  it  was  my  first  trial  at  that.) 

"  I  remember  it  well.  Remember  one  thing  and 
keep  this  on  your  mind.  I  shall  avoid  referring  to 
things  of  which  you  are  thinking  at  the  time  as  much 
as  possible  and  refer  to  my  own  memories.  I  have 
seen  too  much  not  to  understand  my  business.  I  re- 
member what  our  conversation  was.  She  was  an 
arrant  humbug. 

(Yes,  I  remember  well.) 

"  I  wish  to  recall  an  incident.  Do  you  remember 
writing  me  from  the  west  about  an  experiment  you 
tried  to  make  while  there? 

(Yes,  go  on  please.) 

"  It  was  on  the  whole  good. 

(Yes,  I  think  it  was  on  the  whole  good.) 

"  After  there  is  some  definite  arrangement  made 
here  about  some  one  to  fill  my  place,  I  hope  you  will 
take  this  up  again  when  I  shall  help  you." 

The  liquid  that  I  used  in  the  experiment  was  not 
red  but  purple.  A  part  of  the  controversy  that  arose 
regarding  the  case  occurred  before  Dr.  Hodgson's 
death,  but  not  the  part  that  I  had  in  mind.  There 
was  no  handkerchief  tied  on  the  occasion,  but  on  the 
118 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MKS.    PIPEK, 

train  coming  home  Dr.  Hodgson  told  me  of  a  most 
interesting  experiment  with  himself  in  which  the 
handkerchief  had  been  used  to  bandage  his  own  eyes 
and  he  showed  me  how  almost  impossible  it  is  to 
wholly  exclude  vision  on  the  part  of  a  shrewd  person 
by  bandaging  the  eyes.  This,  of  course,  is  not  indi- 
cated in  the  statements  of  the  communicator,  but  it 
is  near  enough  to  remind  me  of  what  he  had  said  and 
as  any  allusion  to  a  handkerchief  in  this  connection 
is  pertinent  one  must  imagine  that  the  incident  which 
I  have  mentioned  was  actually  intended,  and  that 
either  his  own  amnesic  condition  or  the  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  trance  personality  in  control  is  responsible 
for  the  mistake. 

The  opinion  expressed  of  the  medium  on  the  occa- 
sion is  the  opinion  that  he  held  about  the  case  when 
living  and  so  is  a  point  in  identity  though  it  cannot 
be  used  to  reflect  on  her  character  in  any  respect,  as 
one  may  hold  that  the  evidence  for  fraud  was  not 
satisfactory.  But  Dr.  Hodgson  was  very  fully  con- 
vinced that  there  was  no  reason  to  believe  it  genuine. 

It  is  interesting  to  remark  the  allusion  to  not  tell- 
ing me  what  I  was  thinking  of  at  the  time.  I  doubt 
if  any  other  communicator  than  Dr.  Hodgson  would 
think  of  this  point.  He  was  so  familiar  with  the 
objection  to  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  from  telepathy 
that  he  was  always  on  the  lookout  for  the  facts  that 
told  against  this  objection  and  here  it  turns  up  as  a 
habit  of  thought  which  few  would  manifest. 

The  last  incident  is  quite  as  important  as  any  of 
the  others.  Nearly  two  years  before  I  had  had  an 
experiment  with  a  psychic  out  west,  a  non-professional 
119 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

case  —  I  would  not  quote  a  professional  type  —  and 
I  not  only  obtained  some  important  names,  but  I  re- 
ceived the  Christian  name  of  George  Pelham  in  re- 
sponse to  the  request  that  my  father  bring  the  man 
there  who  had  helped  him  communicate  in  the  Piper 
case,  and  this  was  not  known  by  the  woman.  After- 
ward George  Pelham  stated  through  Mrs.  Piper  that 
he  had  got  his  Christian  name  through  in  this  case. 
This  is  the  reason  that  Dr.  Hodgson  thought  it  a 
good  one  on  the  whole. 

The  communications  quoted  were  followed  by  an  al- 
lusion to  the  newspaper  stories  about  his  "  return- 
ing." No  mention  was  made  of  the  papers,  but  only 
of  the  stories  to  that  effect.  I  then  asked  him  if  he 
had  been  anywhere  and  he  replied  that  he  had  tried 
though  not  very  successfully,  and  then  said  he  had 
tried  with  the  "  young  girl."  The  pertinence  of  this 
will  be  apparent  to  the  reader  after  noting  the  inci- 
dent narrated  earlier  in  this  chapter.  I  then  asked  if 
he  had  tried  at  the  case  in  which  I  had  been  inter- 
ested so  long.  I  referred  to  the  Smead  case  not  then 
published.*     The  reply  was  as  follows: 

"  I  will  tell  a  message  I  tried  to  give.  I  said  I  had 
found  things  better  than  I  thought  I  had.  I  also 
spoke  of  your  father.  Do  you  remember  this.  I  am 
Hodgson.  I  have  found  things  better  than  I  hoped." 
He  then  made  an  allusion  to  my  hypnotic  experiment 
with  a  student,  but  as  this  had  been  published  in  my 
Report  on  the  Piper  case  the  mention  of  it  has  no 
value. 

There  were  a  number  of  allusions  to  Dr.  Hodgsou 

*  See  Chapter  VIII. 

120 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

in  the  automatic  writing  of  Mrs.  Smead  before  she 
knew  of  his  death  which  had  been  carefully  concealed 
from  her  by  Mr.  Smead,  and  one  or  two  apparitions 
of  him  associated  with  a  frequent  apparition  of  my- 
self. At  one  sitting  the  name  of  my  father  was  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  Dr.  Hodgson,  but  there  was  no 
statement  that  he  had  found  things  better  than  he  had 
hoped.  There  were  many  pertinent  statements  which 
have  no  place  in  this  account  further  than  to  men- 
tion the  fact,  and  later  the  very  language  here  stated 
as  having  been  given  through  this  case  was  found  in 
my  record  of  it,  save  the  reference  to  the  way  in  which 
he  found  things. 

I  come  now  to  a  set  of  incidents  which  are  perhaps 
as  important  as  any  one  could  wish.  I  had  an  ar- 
rangement for  three  sittings  beginning  March  19th 
(1906).  Previous  to  this  I  arranged  to  have  a  sit- 
ting with  a  lady  whom  I  knew  well  in  New  York  City., 
She  was  not  a  professional  psychic,  but  a  lady  occu- 
pying an  important  position  in  one  of  the  large  cor- 
porations in  this  city.  This  sitting  was  on  the  night 
of  March  16th,  Friday.  At  this  sitting  Dr.  Hodg- 
son purported  to  be  present.  His  name  was  written 
and  some  pertinent  things  said  with  reference  to  my- 
self, though  they  were  not  in  any  respect  evidential. 
Nor  could  I  attach  evidential  value  to  the  giving  of 
his  name  as  the  lady  knew  well  that  he  had  died.  I 
put  away  my  record  of  the  facts  and  said  nothing 
about  the  result  to  any  one.  I  went  on  to  Boston  to 
have  my  sittings  with  Mrs.  Piper. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  sitting  Rector,  the 
trance  personality  usually  controlling,  wrote  that  he 
121 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

had  seen  me  "  at  another  light,"  that  he  had  brought 
Hodgson  there,  but  that  they  could  not  make  them- 
selves clear,  and  asked  me  if  I  had  understood  them. 
I  asked  when  it  was  and  received  the  reply  that  it  was 
two  days  before  Sabbath.  The  reader  will  see  that 
this  coincides  with  the  time  of  the  sitting  in  New 
York.  Some  statements  were  then  made  by  Rector 
about  the  difficulty  of  communicating  there,  owing  to 
the  "  intervention  of  the  mind  of  the  light,"  a  fact 
coinciding  with  my  knowledge  of  the  case,  and  stated 
that  they  had  tried  to  send  through  a  certain  word, 
which  in  fact  I  did  not  get. 

When  Dr.  Hodgson  came  a  few  minutes  afterward 
to  communicate  he  at  once  asked  me,  after  the  usual 
form  of  his  greeting,  if  I  had  received  his  message, 
and  on  my  reply  that  I  was  not  certain  he  asked  me  to 
try  the  lady  some  day  again.  As  soon  as  the  sitting 
was  over  I  wrote  to  the  lady  without  saying  a  word  of 
what  had  happened  and  arranged  for  another  sitting 
with  her  for  Saturday  evening  the  24th. 

At  this  sitting  one  of  the  trance  personalities  of 
the  Piper  case,  one  who  does  not  often  appear  there, 
appeared,  with  Miss  X.  as  I  shall  call  her,  and  wrote 
his  name.  Miss  X.  had  heard  of  this  personality,  but 
knew  that  Rector  was  the  usual  amanuensis  in  the 
Piper  case.  Immediately  following  the  trance  per- 
sonality whose  name  was  written  Dr.  Hodgson  pur- 
ported to  communicate  and  used  almost  the  identical 
phrases  with  which  he  begins  his  communications  in 
the  Piper  case  —  in  fact,  several  words  were  identical, 
and  they  are  not  the  usual  introduction  of  other  com- 
municators. After  receiving  this  message  I  wrote  to 
122 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

Mr.  Henry  James,  Jr.,  without  saying  what  I  had 
got  and  asked  him  to  interrogate  Dr.  Hodgson 
when  he  got  a  sitting  to  know  if  he  had  recently 
been  communicating  with  me  and  if  he  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  to  ask  Dr.  Hodgson  what  he  had  told 
me.  About  three  weeks  after  Mr.  James  had  his 
sitting  and  carried  out  my  request.  Dr.  Hodgson  re- 
plied that  he  had  been  trying  to  communicate  with  me 
several  Sabbaths  previously  and  stated  with  some  ap- 
proximation to  it  the  message  which  I  had  received  on 
the  evening  of  the  24th. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  these  incidents  involve 
cross  references  with  another  psychic  than  Mrs.  Piper, 
and  though  I  am  familiar  with  the  methods  by  which 
professional  mediums  communicate  with  each  other 
about  certain  persons  who  can  be  made  victims  of  their 
craft  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  are  not  dealing 
with  a  professional  medium  in  Miss  X.  and  that  we 
can  not  call  Mrs.  Piper  this  in  the  ordinary  use  of 
the  term.  I  can  vouch  for  the  trustworthiness  of 
Miss  X.  and  think  that  the  ordinary  explanation  of 
the  coincidences  will  not  apply  in  this  instance. 

The  next  day  after  the  sitting  just  mentioned  when 
Dr.  Hodgson  came  to  communicate  he  asked  me  if  I 
remembered  anything  about  the  cheese  we  had  at  a 
lunch  in  his  room.  At  first  I  thought  of  an  incident 
not  connected  with  a  lunch,  but  with  an  attempt  at 
intercommunication  between  two  mediums  in  which  a 
reference  to  cheese  coming  from  Dr.  Hodgson  was 
made,  but  as  soon  as  the  mention  of  a  lunch  was  made, 
which  had  no  relevance  to  what  I  was  thinking  of, 
I  recalled  the  interesting  circumstance  that  once,  and 
123 


PSYCHICAL   RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

only  once,  I  had  had  a  midnight  lunch  with  Dr. 
Hodgson  at  the  Tavern  Club  when  he  made  a  welsh 
rarebit  and  we  had  a  delightful  time. 

Another  incident  is  still  more  important  as  repre- 
senting a  fact  which  I  did  not  know  and  which  was 
relevant  to  a  mutual  friend  who  was  named  and  who 
knew  the  fact.  At  this  same  sitting  Dr.  Hodgson 
sent  his  love  to  Prof.  Newbold,  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  told  me  to  ask  him  if  he  remem- 
bered being  with  him  near  the  ocean  on  the  beach. 
I  inquired  of  Prof.  Newbold  if  this  had  any  pertinence 
to  him  and  he  replied  that  the  last  time  he  saw  Dr. 
Hodgson  was  in  the  previous  July  at  the  ocean  beach. 

At  the  next  sitting  I  had  the  "  young  light  "  pres- 
ent for  certain  experimental  purposes.  After  the 
communications  relevant  to  her  and  after  she  had  left 
the  room  Dr.  Hodgson  asked  me  if  I  remembered  the 
meeting  we  had  had  with  her  and  what  he  had  said 
about  her  hysteria,  saying  that  he  explained  it  as  a 
partial  case  of  hysteria.  The  facts  were  that,  after 
our  meeting  with  the  young  lady  and  while  we  were 
walking  to  a  friend's  for  dinner,  Dr.  Hodgson  re- 
marked to  me  that  he  thought  there  was  some  hysteria 
in  the  case  and  that  she  was  a  very  clever  girl,  the  last 
remark  being  repeated  here  on  this  occasion  through 
Mrs.  Piper. 

At  a  sitting  on  April  25th  after  an  allusion  to  telep- 
athy in  which  he  said  there  was  none  of  this  in  the 
process  except  in  what  came  from  his  mind  to  me 
through  Mrs.  Piper,  Dr.  Hodgson  took  up  another 
important  message  whose  truth  and  importance  I 
124 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

learned  accidentally  some  time  afterward.  He  said, 
in  the  automatic  writing  of  Mrs.  Piper : 

"  Do  you  remember  a  man  we  heard  of  in  —  No,  in 
Washington,  and  what  I  said  about  trying  to  see 
him? 

(What  man  was  that?) 

"  A  light. 

(A  real  light?) 

"  Yes,  I  heard  of  him  just  before  I  came  over. 
Perhaps  I  did  not  write  you  about  this." 

Now  Dr.  Hodgson  had  not  written  me  about  any 
such  discovery  and  the  statements  had  no  meaning  to 
me.  In  June  I  had  some  business  in  Washington  and 
on  the  13th  I  accidentally  met  a  gentleman  in  charge 
of  a  department  in  one  of  the  largest  business  houses 
there  and  in  the  course  of  our  conversation  he  casually 
mentioned  that  he  had  written  to  Dr.  Hodgson  a 
short  time  before  his  death  about  a  man  there  who 
showed  signs  of  mediumistic  powers.  It  happened 
that  I  knew  the  man  and  had  received  from  him  some 
years  previously  an  interesting  experience.  I  had 
not  heard  from  him  for  several  years.  He  is  em- 
ployed in  a  very  important  office.  In  my  conversa- 
tion with  the  first  mentioned  gentleman  I  learned  that 
recently  this  other  man  referred  to  had  clearly  shown 
indications  of  mediumistic  powers.  Here  then  was 
the  possible  explanation  of  the  allusion  at  this  sitting 
on  April  25th.  I  had  known  absolutely  nothing  of 
the  facts  until  thus  mentioned  at  the  sitting  and  after- 
ward verified  in  the  way  described. 

I  am  not  going  to  enter  into  any  elaborate  theo- 
125 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

retical  explanation  of  these  incidents.  As  I  have  al- 
ready said,  the  scientific  man  will  attach  less  value 
to  what  purports  to  come  from  Dr.  Hodgson  through 
Mrs.  Piper  than  if  it  came  from  some  one  else.  Be- 
sides I  am  not  anxious  to  insist  upon  explanations  at 
present.  The  most  important  point  is  to  have  the 
facts,  and  if  there  were  space  I  would  be  glad  to  give 
the  detailed  records,  since  these  are  the  data  which  a 
really  scientific  man  wishes.  But  this  is  obviously  out 
of  the  question  at  the  present  time.  I  desire  only  to 
excuse  the  demand  for  the  investigation  of  such 
phenomena.  It  will  be  apparent,  I  think,  to  every 
man  that  these  statements  through  Mrs.  Piper  are 
not  due  to  chance,  and  that,  if  we  have  reason  to 
believe  that  Mrs.  Piper  had  not  previously  acquired 
by  normal  means  the  information  conveyed,  we  have 
facts  which  do  not  have  an  ordinary  explanation. 
What  the  true  explanation  is  we  need  not  insist  upon. 
Every  one  knows  what  hypothesis  I  would  suggest  in 
the  case,  but  I  wish  less  to  keep  in  the  front  any 
supernormal  explanation  of  the  phenomena  than  to 
present  the  facts.  It  is  easier  to  quarrel  with  theories 
than  it  is  with  facts  and  if  we  have  any  reason  to  trust 
the  phenomena  as  supernormal  I  am  quite  willing  to 
leave  their  ultimate  cause  to  the  scientific  psychologist. 
I  should  do  no  more  than  hold  him  responsible  for  the 
evidence  that  any  other  theory  than  the  superficial 
one  actually  applies.  But  there  need  be  no  haste  in 
the  adoption  of  any  special  theory ;  it  is  the  collec- 
tion of  similar  phenomena  that  is  now  the  most  im- 
portant task  before  us. 


126 


CHAPTER  VI 

FURTHER    EXPERIMENTS    RELATING    TO    DR.    HODGSON 
SINCE    HIS    DEATH 

In  the  previous  chapter  I  mentioned  the  most  strik- 
ing incidents  affecting  the  personal  identity  of  Dr. 
Richard  Hodgson,  which  were  hardly  explicable 
by  the  most  obstinate  sceptic  on  any  ordinary 
grounds.  There  were  many  incidents  which  those 
who  are  familiar  with  the  Piper  phenomena  and  Dr. 
Hodgson's  policy  in  life  could  very  well  believe  were 
supernormal,  but  it  is  hardly  advisable  to  press  them 
into  too  confident  a  service  in  favor  of  undoubted 
supernormal  knowledge,  especially  when  we  may  call 
into  use  much  more  striking  incidents  than  such  as 
made  up  the  previous  chapter.  The  present  chapter 
will  extend  the  important  incidents  so  as  to  exclude 
more  effectively  the  appeal  to  ordinary  explanations 
of  all  kinds  and  to  implicate  other  persons  than  Mrs. 
Piper  in  the  results. 

One  of  the  first  set  of  incidents  in  the  previous 
chapter  was  of  the  type  to  which  special  reference 
will  be  made  in  the  present  collection.  I  mean  inci- 
dents which  we  call  cases  of  "  cross  reference."  These 
are  incidents  and  statements  obtained  through  two  or 
more  mediums  who  do  not  know  the  facts  so  obtained. 
Thus,  for  example,  suppose  I  obtain  a  "  message  " 
through  the  mediumship  of  A  and  then  have  an  ex- 
periment with  B  who  does  not  know  that  I  have  had 
127 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  sitting  with  A,  and  suppose  I  received  the  same 
"message"  through  B,  I  am  entitled  to  conjecture 
the  same  source  for  both  "  messages."  This  will  be 
true  on  any  theory  of  them.  The  importance  to  be 
attached  to  such  results  is  this:  the  possibility  of  es- 
tablishing a  certain  kind  of  personal  identity  inde- 
pendently of  the  communication  of  past  memories, 
which  are  the  first  step  in  proof  of  a  theory  of  spirit- 
istic sources.  What  we  must  demand,  as  already  ex- 
plained, is  the  obtaining  of  incidents  which  any  living 
and  surviving  consciousness  would  naturally  report 
in  proof  of  personal  identity  when  that  is  questioned. 
When  this  is  once  done  —  and  it  can  be  done  only 
through  memory  of  the  person  "  communicating  " — 
we  may  resort  to  all  sorts  of  watch-words  given  us  by 
a  specific  person  and  communicated  through  other 
mediumistic  sources  in  proof  of  identity  where  we  can 
exclude  all  other  human  knowledge  of  the  facts.  It 
would  very  naturally  require  a  larger  number  of  inci- 
dents to  prove  the  personal  identity  of  a  deceased 
person  through  one  source  than  to  prove  its  identity 
in  a  second  case  after  it  has  been  established  in  the 
first.  The  reasons  for  this  we  need  not  emphasize, 
and  they  may  be  apparent  to  all  who  have  paid  any 
attention  to  the  difficulties  encountered  in  the  study  of 
an  individual  case.  The  primary  reason,  however,  is 
that  we  can  most  assuredly  isolate  the  medium's  possi- 
ble knowledge  in  such  cases  and  render  it  less  probable 
that  the  explanation  is  due  solely  to  individual  idiosyn- 
cracies  of  the  person  through  whom  the  "  message  " 
comes  in  the  first  place. 

It  is  these  circumstances  which  make  "  cross  refer- 
128 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

ence  "  Incidents  especially  cogent  and  important.  I 
gave  but  few  of  them  in  the  previous  chapter  and 
propose  to  give  more  of  them  here,  as  they  have  been 
obtained  since  the  experiments  which  were  quoted  be- 
fore. I  shall  also  include  some  incidents  which  are 
not  cases  of  "  cross  reference."  I  shall  summarize 
those  of  cross  reference  first  as  they  are  the  stronger 
type. 

I  first  give  some  incidents  which  I  obtained  through 
a  psychic  who  is  not  in  any  respect  professional.  I 
have  already  explained  the  value  of  such  cases.  It  is 
that  of  one  whose  name  and  identity  I  am  required  ab- 
solutely to  conceal,  as  the  lady  has  such  social  stand- 
ing as  would  be  affected  by  the  intolerant  and  un- 
charitable attitude  of  the  public.  I  am  sorry,  of 
course,  that  I  am  not  able  to  mention  names,  but  I 
recognize  the  duty  of  secrecy  in  this  case  and  for  more 
reasons  than  the  one  which  I  have  indicated.  Pri- 
marily I  must  say  no  one  is  safe  from  the  modern 
curse  of  newspaper  reporters  and  editors,  who  have 
no  respect  for  any  of  the  courtesies  and  humanities 
of  life.  I  repeat  that  this  lady  is  not  only  not  a  pro- 
fessional psychic,  but  does  not  privately  experiment 
outside  the  innermost  circle  of  her  intimate  relatives 
and  friends.  I  shall  not  give  any  clue  to  the  part  of 
the  country  in  which  she  lives  with  her  husband  and 
children.     I  shall  call  the  lady  Mrs.  Quentin. 

I  received  last  spring  some  samples  of  her  work 
which  was  with  the  Ouija  board  and  was  so  pleased 
with  it  that  I  was  permitted  to  be  present  at  an  ex- 
periment on  the  date  of  October  4th,  1906.  There 
were  five  persons  present  in  all;  except  myself,  none 
129 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

but  intimate  relatives,  of  the  same  social  rank  as 
Mrs.  Quentin.  The  manner  of  "  communicating  "  is 
as  follows. 

Mrs.  Quentin  holds  her  finger  tips  on  a  piece  of 
glass  like  the  bottom  of  a  tumbler.  There  is  no  spe- 
cial reason  why  it  should  be  glass.  Under  some  "  in- 
fluence "  the  fingers  move  the  glass  to  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet  which  are  arranged  about  a  central 
square.  After  indicating  a  letter  in  the  process  of 
spelling  out  "  messages "  the  hand  returns  to  this 
central  square,  and  then,  often  after  a  pause,  goes  to 
another  letter  of  the  word  which  is  in  the  process  of 
spelling.  Usually  a  word  or  sentence  is  spelled  out 
before  a  pause  takes  place.  Various  causes  of  ap- 
parent embarrassment  occur  to  determine  a  pause,  but 
it  is  not  necessary  to  remark  this  fact.  The  im- 
portant circumstance  is  that  the  hand  moves  about 
over  the  Ouija  board  pointing  out  letters  which  spell 
out  intelligent  "  messages  "  purporting  to  come  from 
deceased  persons.  With  this  conception  of  what  goes 
on  the  reader  will  be  prepared  to  understand  the  in- 
terest that  attaches  to  some  of  the  incidents  of  the 
process  duplicated  through  Mrs.  Piper. 

At  this  experiment  the  "  communicator  "  purported 
to  be  George  Pelham.  This  is  the  published  name  of 
a  friend  of  Dr.  Hodgson's  who  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing his  personal  identity  to  Dr.  Hodgson  through 
Mrs.  Piper  and  was  the  main  subject  of  the  Report  on 
that  case  by  Dr.  Hodgson  in  1898.  George  Pelham 
gave  the  same  initials  through  Mrs.  Quentin  that  he 
had  given  through  Mrs.  Piper,  though  no  value  can 
be  attached  to  that  fact  since  Mrs.  Quentin  knew  it, 
130 


EXPERIMENTS     WITH    MRS.     PIPER 

as  she  had  read  this  Report.  He  had  been  "  com- 
municator "  some  time  previous  to  my  experiment. 
On  this  occasion  of  October  4th  he  gave  some  evi- 
dence of  his  own  identity  in  matters  pertaining  to 
"  communications  "  at  my  first  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper 
in  1898.  Mrs.  Quentin  had  not  read  my  Report  on 
these  sittings  and  so  had  no  knowledge  of  the  facts. 
After  some  incidents  had  been  given  that  were  not 
relevant  to  the  matter  of  "  cross  references  "  associated 
with  Dr.  Hodgson,  the  following  colloquy  took  place 
in  the  manner  described.  I  put  in  parentheses  what 
was  said  by  myself  and  the  rest  is  what  was  spelled 
out  on  the  Ouija  board. 

"  (Well,  George,  have  you  seen  any  of  my  friends 
recently?) 

No,  only  Richard  H. 

(How  is  H?) 

Progressive  as  ever. 

(Is  he  clear?) 

Not  very. 

(Do  you  mean  when  he  communicates  or  in  his  nor- 
mal state?) 

Oh,  all  right  normally.  Only  when  he  comes  into 
that  wretched  atmosphere  he  goes  to  pieces.  Won- 
der how  long  it  will  take  to  overcome  this. 

(Do  you  see  Hodgson  often?) 

Yes,  our  lives  run  in  parallels." 

On  the  10th  of  October  I  had  an  experiment  with 
Mrs.  Piper,  and  of  course  kept  absolutely  secret  both 
that  I  had  had  this  sitting  of  October  4th  and  the 
contents  of  it.  The  following  is  what  occurred  in 
reference  to  the  sitting  of  October  4th,  as  the  inci- 
131 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

dents  will  suggest.  I  shall  have  to  quote  the  record 
at  considerable  length.  I  adopt  the  same  form  as  be- 
fore. The  square  brackets  indicate  that  the  matter 
enclosed  consists  of  explanatory  notes  or  comments 
added  after  the  experiment  or  at  the  time  and  do 
not  indicate  anything  that  was  said  on  the  occasion. 
After  the  preliminaries  by  the  "  control,"  who 
claimed  to  have  the  assumed  name  of  Rector,  the  fol- 
lowing took  place  on  the  appearance  of  what  claimed 
to  be  Dr.  Hodgson. 

"  I  am  Hodgson. 

(Good,  Hodgson,  how  are  you?) 

Capital.     How  are  you,  Hyslop,  old  chap  ? 

(Fine.) 

Good,  glad  to  hear  it.  Did  you  receive  my  last 
message? 

(When  and  where?)  [I  of  course  had  in  mind 
the  incidents  from  which  the  previous  quotation  is 
taken.] 

I  told  George  to  give  it  to  you. 

(Was  that  recently?) 

Yes,  very. 

(I  got  something  about  you  from  George.  May 
be  he  can  tell. ) 

[I  was  here  thinking  of  George  Pelham.] 

Oh,  yes,  well  I  told  him  to  tell  you.  I  mean  George 
D [name  written  in  full  at  the  time.] 

(No,  he  did  not  write  to  me.) 

Too  bad.  Ask  him  about  it,  or  better  still  I  will 
tell  you  myself.  I  said  I  tried  to  reach  you  and  an- 
other man  whom  I  thought  to  be  Funk. 

(No.) 

132 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPBR 

I  heard  you  say  Van. 

(I  do  not  recall  that  word,  but  I  think  I  know  what 
place  it  was.) 

You  called  out  Van.  I  heard  it  and  tried  to  give 
a  message  through  him. 

(I  was  not  experimenting  with  a  man,  but  you 
might  have  seen  a  '  light '  in  him.)  [The  man  pres- 
ent on  the  occasion  was  in  mind.] 

Yes,  I  did,  and  I  thought  I  could  speak  but  I 
found  it  too  difficult.  He  did  not  seem  to  under- 
stand. 

(DidG.  P.  try?) 

Yes,  George  did  and  said  I  was  with  him.     Get  it? 

(I  did  not  get  any  message  of  that  kind,  but  he 
said  some  things.) 

He  said  he  would  help  and  he  did  so.  You  must 
bear  in  mind  that  I  am  constantly  watching  out  [for] 
an  opportunity  to  speak  or  get  at  you.  Did  I  under- 
stand the  name  right?  I  heard  him  say  something 
about  light. 

(Yes,  that's  correct.)  [Reference  had  been  made 
by  G.  P.  at  that  experiment  to  the  Smead  case.] 

Do  not  think  I  am  asleep,  Hyslop.  Not  much.  I 
may  not  understand  all  that  goes  on,  but  I  hear  more 
than  I  explain  here. 

(Yes,  I  understand.) 

Therefore  you  must  get  what  I  can  give  here  and 
try  to  understand  why  it  seems  so  fragmentary.  I 
do  not  feel  your  lack  of  interest,  but  I  do  feel  great 
difficulties  in  expressing  [myself]  through  lights 
[mediums]. 

(Yes,  what  '  light '  was  it  that  George  spoke 
133 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

about?)  [I  thought  of  the  Smead  case,  expecting 
something  would  be  said  about  it.] 

He  spoke  about  this  [Mrs.  Piper]  and  the  woman 
you  experimented  with." 

[G.  P.  did  spontaneously  speak  of  the  Piper  case 
at  that  sitting  from  which  I  quoted  above,  and  also 
made  some  pertinent  and  true  statements  about  the 
Smead  case  agreeing  with  what  he  had  said  about  it 
through  Mrs.  Piper  some  years  ago,  the  facts  not 
having  been  published  and  hence  not  known  by  Mrs. 
Quentin.] 

The  thread  of  the  communications  was  interrupted 
at  this  point  by  a  change  of  subject  not  relevant  to 
the  "  cross  reference  "  incidents  which  concern  us  at 
present.  Some  minutes  later  the  matter  was  spon- 
taneously resumed  as  follows. 

"  Did  you  hear  me  say  George  ? 

(When?) 

At  the  lady's. 

(No.) 

I  said  it  when  I  heard  you  say  Van. 

(Was  that  the  last  time  I  had  an  experiment?) 

Yes,  we  do  not  want  to  make  any  mistake  or  con- 
fusion in  this,  Hyslop. 

(Did  G.  P.  communicate  with  me  there?) 

He  certainly  did.     Wasn't  that  FUNK? 

(No,  Funk  was  not  there.) 

Was  it  his  son? 

(No,  it  was  not  his  son.) 

It  resembled  him  I  thought.  I  may  be  mistaken 
as  I  have  seen  him  with  a  light  recently. 

(Do  you  know  anything  that  George  said  to  me?) 
134 


EXPERIMENTS     WITH    MRS.     PIPER 

I  cannot  repeat  his  exact  words,  but  the  idea  was 
that  we  were  trying  to  reach  you  and  communicate 
there. 

(Do  you  know  the  method  by  which  the  messages 
came  to  us?) 

We   saw [Mrs.    Piper's   hand   ceased  writing 

and  began  to  move  about  the  sheet  of  paper  exactly 
as  did  the  hand  of  Mrs.  Quentin  when  she  spelled  out 
the  words  by  the  Ouija  board.  The  most  striking 
feature  of  this  identity  was  the  tendency  of  Mrs. 
Piper's  hand  to  move  back  to  the  center  of  the  sheet 
as  Mrs.  Quentin's  always  did  after  indicating  a  let- 
ter.] 

(That's  right.) 

You  asked  the  board  questions  and  they  came  out 
in  letters. 

(That's  right.) 

I  saw  the  modus  operandi  well.  I  was  pleased  that 
George  spelled  his  name.  It  gave  me  great  delight. 
I  heard  you  ask  who  was  with  him  and  he  answered 
R.  H. 

(I  asked  him  how  you  were.) 

He  said  first  rate  or  very  well.  I  am  not  sure  of 
the  exact  words.  Do  you  mind  telling  me  just  how 
the  words  were  understood.  Was  it  very  well  or  all 
right  ? 

(The  words  were  '  progressive  as  ever.') 

Oh  yes!  I  do  not  exactly  recall  those  words,  but 
I  heard  your  question  distinctly,  Hyslop.  I  leave  no 
stone  unturned  to  reach  you  and  prove  my  identity. 
Was  it  not  near  water? 

(Yes.) 

135 


P8YCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESUERECTION 

And  in  a  light  room? 

(Yes,  that's  correct.) 

I  saw  you  sitting  at  a  table  or  near  it. 

(Yes,  right.) 

Another  man  present  and  the  light  [medium]  was 
near  you. 

(Yes.) 

I  saw  the  surroundings  very  clearly  when  George 
was  speaking.     I  was  taking  it  all  in,  so  to  speak." 

At  this  point  the  subject  was  spontaneously 
dropped  and  the  communicator  did  not  recur  to  it 
again.  The  reader  will  easily  observe  the  features  of 
identity  in  the  two  cases.  In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Quen- 
tin,  G.  P.  did  mention  Mrs.  Piper  and  made  some 
pointed  remarks  about  Mrs.  Smead,  "  the  woman  that 
I  experimented  with,"  and  mentioned  Dr.  Hodgson. 
The  description  here  of  the  method  of  communicating 
through  Mrs.  Quentin  is  perfectly  accurate,  though 
wholly  unknown  to  Mrs.  Piper.  Mrs.  Quentin  was 
opposite  me  at  the  table  on  which  the  Ouija  board 
rested,  and  at  my  immediate  right  was  a  gentleman 
aiding  in  the  reading  of  the  messages.  He  had  no 
resemblance  to  Dr.  Funk.  Two  other  men,  however, 
were  present  sitting  farther  off.  One  of  them  might 
be  mistaken  by  obscure  perception  for  Dr.  Funk,  as 
his  iron  gray  beard  and  hair  might  suggest  the  man 
named,  but  only  to  a  mind  which  did  not  have  clear 
perceptions  and  was  prepossessed  with  the  idea  of  the 
person  he  thought  he  saw. 

It  will  be  as  apparent  to  the  reader  also  that  there 
is  much  confusion  in  the  communications  and  that  the 
communicator,  on  any  theory  of  the  phenomena,  can- 
136 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

not  make  the  "  messages  "  as  definite  as  we  desire 
them.  The  recognition  of  this  fact  by  the  com- 
municator himself  is  an  interesting  circumstance,  and 
it  is  noticeable  that  he  says  that  he  knows  more  than 
he  can  explain.  Students  of  this  problem  and  the 
fragmentary  nature  of  many  messages  will  discover 
the  truth  of  the  statement,  as  it  is  evident  that  far 
more  is  in  the  mind  of  communicators  than  is  regis- 
tered through  the  writing  and  communications  gen- 
erally, a  fact  which  would  be  much  more  natural  on 
the  spiritistic  theory  than  any  other,  assuming  that 
there  are  both  mental  and  other  difficulties  on  the 
other  side  when  communicating.  But  this  aspect  of 
the  problem  is  not  the  primary  one  in  this  paper. 

In  connection  with  the  passages  which  I  have  just 
quoted  I  saw  my  chance  to  test  another  "  cross  refer- 
ence." I  had  previously  made  arrangements  to  have 
an  experiment  with  another  psychic  in  Boston,  and  as 
soon  as  I  got  the  chance  I  indicated  it,  and  the  follow- 
ing is  the  record.  I  was  at  the  sitting  with  Mrs. 
Piper. 

"(Now,  Hodgson,  I  expect  to  try  another  case  this 
afternoon.) 

SMITH.      [Pseudonym.] 

(Yes,  that's  right.) 

I  shall  be  there,  and  I  will  refer  to  Books  and  give 
my  initials  R.  H.  only  as  a  test. 

(Good.) 

And  I  will  say  books." 

I  was  alone  at  the  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper.  She 
was  in  a  trance  from  which  she  recovers  without  any 
memory  of  what  happens  or  has  been  said  during  it. 
137 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Three  hours  afterward  I  went  to  Mrs.  Smith,  who 
did  not  know  that  I  had  been  experimenting  that  day 
with  Mrs.  Piper.  After  some  general  "  communica- 
tions "  by  the  control  and  a  reference  to  some  one  who 
was  said  to  be  interested  in  Dr.  Hodgson,  came  the 
following.  In  this  case  it  was  not  by  automatic  writ- 
ing as  with  Mrs.  Piper,  but  by  ordinary  speech  dur- 
ing what  is  apparently  a  light  trance. 

"  Beside  him  is  Dr.  Hodgson.  It  is  part  of  a 
promise  to  come  to  you  to-day  as  he  had  just  been  to 
say  to  you  he  was  trying  not  to  be  intense,  but  he  is 
intense.  I  said  I  would  come  here.  I  am.  I  thought 
I  might  be  able  to  tell  different  things  I  already  told. 
Perhaps  I  can  call  up  some  past  interviews  and  make 
things  more  clear.  Several  things  were  scattered 
around  at  different  places.  [I  have  several  purported 
communications  from  him  through  four  other  cases.] 
He  says  he  is  glad  you  came  and  to  make  the  trial 
soon  after  the  other. 

[I  put  a  pair  of  Dr.  Hodgson's  gloves  which  I  had 
with  me  in  Mrs.  Smith's  hands.] 

You  know  I  don't  think  he  wanted  them  to  help  him 
so  much  as  he  wanted  to  know  that  you  had  them. 
You  have  got  something  of  his.  It  looks  like  a  book, 
like  a  note  book,  with  a  little  writing  in  it.  That  is 
only  to  let  you  know  it." 

At  this  point  the  subject  was  spontaneously 
changed  and  I  permitted  things  to  take  their  own 
course.  A  little  later  he  returned  to  the  matter  and 
the  following  occurred. 

"  There  is  something  he  said  he  would  do.  He 
said :  *  I  would  like  to  say  a  word.'  I  said  I  would 
138 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

say  —  I  know  it's  a  word  [last  evidently  the  psychic's 
mind.]  Your  name  isn't  it?  [apparently  said  by 
psychic  to  the  communicator.]  I  said  I  would  say: 
—  Each  time  the  word  slips.      [Pause.]      I  am  afraid 

I  can't  get  it.     It  sounds Looks  as  if  it  had 

about  seven  or  eight  letters.  It  is  all  shaky  and 
wriggly,  so  that  I  can't  see  it  yet. 

Can't  you  write  it  down  for  him  so  I  can  see? 
[apparently  said  to  the  communicator.]  C.  [psy- 
chic shakes  her  head.]  [Pause.]  [Psychic's  fin- 
gers then  write  on  the  table.]  Would  it  mean  any- 
thing like  '  Comrade  '  ?  (  No. )  He  goes  away  again. 
(All  right.  Don't  worry.)  [Pause.]  Let  me  take 
your  other  hand.  [Said  to  me.  I  placed  my  left 
hand  in  the  psychic's.]  No  good.  [Pause.]  I'm 
trying  to  do  it.  I  know  that  he  has  just  come  from 
the  other  place,  and  kept  his  promise  to  say  a  word." 

The  reader  will  notice  that  I  got  the  reference  to 
books,  the  promise  to  say  a  word,  and  an  apparent  at- 
tempt to  give  the  other  promised  message  which  was 
not  successful.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  word  "  in- 
itials "  has  seven  letters  in  it. 

The  message  is  not  so  clear  as  the  most  exacting 
critic  might  demand,  but  we  must  remember  that  we 
are  not  dealing  with  well  established  methods  of  com- 
munication involving  perfect  command  over  the  men- 
tal and  cosmic  machinery  for  this  purpose.  The 
main  point  is  that  there  is  a  coincidence  of  personality 
and  message  in  the  case  where  it  was  not  previously 
known  that  any  such  reference  to  books  would  be  rele- 
vant. For  those  of  us  who  are  familiar  with  this 
type  of  phenomena  it  is  perfectly  intelligible  to  find 
139 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  rambling  and  incoherent  manner  in  referring  to  the 
subject.  We  assume  as  a  fundamental  part  of  the 
hypothesis  an  abnormal  mental  condition  of  the  me- 
dium through  which  the  communications  come  and 
also  of  the  agent  that  is  instrumental  in  sending  them. 
That,  if  true,  may  well  account  for  the  confused  way 
in  which  the  message  is  obtained  and  its  setting  of 
delirious  and  irrelevant  matter.  The  reference  to  a 
promise,  to  its  having  been  made  that  very  day,  to 
my  having  been  at  the  other  "  light,"  to  the  correct 
name  of  the  party,  all  but  this  name  being  absolutely 
unknown  to  the  medium,  when  associated  with  the 
reference  to  books,  makes  a  striking  coincidence  which 
hardly  seems  due  to  chance  or  guessing. 

I  should  add  in  this  connection  another  important 
incident  which  will  strengthen  the  coincidence  involved 
in  the  facts  just  told.  I  had  another  experiment  the 
same  evening  with  another  young  lady  who  is  not  a 
professional  and  with  whose  mother  I  had  been  in 
correspondence  for  some  time.  I  had  arranged  some 
time  before  to  have  a  sitting  for  that  evening.  I  did 
not  give  the  slightest  hint  that  I  was  to  be  in  Boston 
for  any  other  business  and  no  one  of  the  family  was 
informed  of  my  arrival  two  days  previously  or  of  my 
intentions  of  having  sittings  with  Mrs.  Piper  and 
Mrs.  Smith.  When  I  arranged  to  go  out  to  the 
house  with  the  mother  I  made  it  appear  that  I  had 
arrived  from  New  York  only  a  half  hour  before. 
Hence  it  was  not  known  to  the  mother  or  to  the  young 
lady  that  I  had  had  any  other  experiments  that  day. 

At  the  experiment  with  Mrs.  Piper  I  had  used  a 
pair  of  old  gloves  which  Dr.  Hodgson  had  worn, — 
140 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

the  same  being  used  for  purposes  which  experimenters 
in  this  field  understand  —  and  I  had  placed  the  same 
articles  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Smith  when  I  got  the 
reference  to  books.  When  I  had  my  experiment  with 
the  young  lady  mentioned  later  in  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  it  was  some  time  before  I  placed  the  same 
gloves  in  her  hands.  When  I  did  she  paused  a  few 
minutes,  made  a  general  remark,  and  then  said:  "  I 
get  books  in  connection  with  these." 

The  coincidence  again  is  apparent  and  whether  it  is 
to  have  any  causal  significance  will  depend  upon  the 
judgment  of  each  reader  who  is  capable  of  estimating 
the  character  of  such  phenomena. 

There  was  another  coincidence  which  involved  a 
"  cross  reference."  At  the  experiment  with  Mrs. 
Piper  that  day,  Dr.  Hodgson  referred  to  a  "  stylo- 
graphic  pen  "  which  he  said  he  wished  me  to  have. 
The  probable  object  of  this  reference  was  to  a  circum- 
stance connected  with  similar  experiments  elsewhere, 
as  it  seems  to  be  an  important  part  of  these  experi- 
ments that  we  should  have  some  article  of  the  com- 
municator's to  "  hold "  him,  whatever  that  means. 
But  this  aside,  the  fact  is  that  Dr.  Hodgson  had  a 
special  stylographic  pen  which  was  necessary  when- 
ever a  certain  one  of  the  trance  personalities  controlled 
the  writing  of  Mrs.  Piper's  hand.  He  had  several 
fountain  pens  which  he  used  for  his  own  purposes, 
but  his  stylographic  pen  was  necessary  when  Imper- 
sonator, the  chief  of  the  trance  personalities,  influ- 
enced the  automatic  writing.  But  whatever  his  ob- 
ject in  alluding  to  this  pen  and  saying  that  he 
wanted  me  to  have  it,  at  this  later  sitting  on  the  same 
141 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

day  an  allusion  was  made  to  "  a  pen  which  he  car- 
ried in  his  pocket  "  and  the  statement  was  made  that 
"  it  had  a  little  ring  around  it."  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  stylographic  pen  had  a  ring  around  it 
or  not,  as  I  was  not  able  to  obtain  the  pen,  all  of  these 
little  trinkets  having  been  given  to  his  friends  as 
mementos.  But  there  was  the  coincidence  of  this  ap- 
parent reference  to  the  same  thing  at  both  sittings. 

Allusion  was  also  made  at  both  sittings  to  the 
Institute  and  characteristic  references  with  statements 
about  our  co-operation  in  it  which  was  not  known  by 
either  medium.  One  was  to  a  letter  which  Dr.  Hodg- 
son wrote  to  me  a  few  weeks  before  his  death  about  an 
intended  meeting  in  New  York  to  consider  the  plans 
of  the  Institute.  Similar  allusions  were  also  made  to 
the  organization  of  an  independent  Society  and  its  re- 
lations to  the  English  body. 

But  a  more  important  instance  occurred.  If  the 
reader  will  turn  to  the  February  number  of  the  Jour- 
nal (p.  106)  he  will  find  there  an  important  allusion 
to  a  man  in  Washington  who  was  said  to  be  a  medium 
and  to  a  letter  which  the  communicator,  Dr.  Hodg- 
son, said  he  may  not  have  written  to  me  about  the 
case.  The  facts  represented  by  this  incident,  the 
reader  will  recall,  were  not  known  by  me  and  were  only 
accidentally  learned  afterward.  This  allusion  was 
made  in  the  spring,  but  it  was  locked  up  in  my  record 
and  the  lady  with  whom  I  was  now  holding  a  sitting 
knew  nothing  of  this  incident.  But,  after  an  allusion 
to  a  lady  who  was  closely  connected  with  Dr.  Hodgson 
in  the  experiments  with  Mrs.  Piper,  there  apparently 
came  from  him  the  following: 
142 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.     PIPER 

"  Have  you  been  to  Washington  lately  ?  " 

(Not  specially.) 

"  Is  there  any  psychological  work  there?  I  see 
people  who  are  interested  and  who  will  help  you  in 
your  work.  May  not  be  able  all  at  once,  but  will  do 
it  in  time." 

There  is  no  absolute  assurance  that  the  incidents 
are  identical  in  their  import,  but  they  are  close  enough 
to  suggest  their  probable  meaning.  The  very  men- 
tion of  Washington  in  both  sets  of  experiments  and 
associating  it  with  my  experimental  work  is  at  least  a 
suggestion  in  the  same  direction,  though  we  should 
desire  clearer  indications  of  identity. 

While  referring  to  this  experiment  in  which  the 
"  cross  references  "  occur  I  might  allude  to  other  inci- 
dents which  apparently  represent  supernormal  knowl- 
edge and  purport  to  come  from  Dr.  Hodgson. 
Their  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  are  incidents  ob- 
tained independently  of  Mrs.  Piper. 

There  was  a  fair  description  given  of  George  Pel- 
ham,  the  deceased  friend  of  Dr.  Hodgson  and  who 
had,  after  his  death,  convinced  Dr.  Hodgson  of  his 
survival.  It  was  not  evidential,  but  certain  state- 
ments about  his  being  around  at  experiments  was 
made  which  is  confirmed  by  evidence  of  his  presence  at 
various  other  experiments  which  I  have  had  and  which 
are  not  known  to  any  one  but  myself. 

It  may  be  worth  remarking  also  that  an  allusion 
was  made  to  "  a  little  boy  four  or  five  years  old  "  and 
it  was  said  also:  "  He  is  grown  up.  He  wears  a 
little  blouse  and  little  pants  like  knickerbockers,"  fol- 
lowed by  a  reference  to  the  family  circle.  I  had  a 
143 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

brother  who  died  in  1864  at  four  and  a  half  years  of 
age.  The  clothes  that  he  wore  are  correctly  described 
here  and  we  have  always  kept  a  picture  of  him  in 
this  suit.  His  name  and  death  are  mentioned  in  my 
Report  published  in  1901,  but  no  allusion  was  made 
to  his  dress  there.  It  was  later,  in  sittings  with  Mrs. 
Piper,  that  practically  the  same  reference  was  made  to 
this  dress,  and  the  records  of  that  allusion  have  not 
been  published. 

Another  instance  possibly  involves  a  "  cross  refer- 
ence "  and  certainly  suggests  supernormal  knowledge 
of  an  interesting  kind.  Mr.  Frederic  W.  H.  Myers 
purported  to  communicate  with  me  at  this  same  meet- 
ing. Having  in  mind  his  alleged  communication  with 
me  through  another  medium,  Mrs.  Smead,  mentioned 
on  page  222,  I  asked  a  question  when  he  purported 
to  be  present  at  this  sitting  held  the  same  day  as  the 
one  with  Mrs.  Piper.  The  following  is  what  oc- 
curred with  Mrs.  Smith: 

"Mr.  Myers.  (Yes.)  You  .  .  .  [incom- 
plete notes]  Myers.     He  smiles.     We  are  brothers." 

(Are  you  there,  Mr.  Myers?) 

"  Yes,  right  here." 

(All  right.  Have  you  tried  to  communicate  with 
me?) 

"  Yes,  not  here.  Another  place  where  there  is  a 
younger  guide,  a  man,  not  Piper,  another  place  in  a 
city.  Don't  get  name  through.  What  we  all  want 
is  unity  of  expression  through  different  mediums 
[un]  swayed  by  their  personality,  if  it  helps  us  to  do 
this  well  through  two  or  three.  We  should  do  it 
many  times." 

144 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

(Good,  you  have  done  that  through  one  case.) 

"  Yes  I  know,  but  we  must  do  it  several  times.  We 
don't  have  any  question  but  that  it  can  be  done.  We 
must  have  the  key  to  shut  out  the  personality  of  the 
medium.     He  says  he  will  do  that." 

The  kind  of  experiment  here  alluded  to  was  a  favor- 
ite one  in  the  plans  of  Mr.  Myers  when  living  and 
some  experiments  were  performed  by  himself  and  Dr. 
Hodgson  in  this  direction,  though  the  facts  were  never 
made  public.  The  characteristic  may  have  been  gen- 
erally known  and  hence  I  do  not  refer  to  it  as  evi- 
dential, but  only  as  suggestive  of  his  identity.  The 
important  points,  however,  are  the  correct  statements 
that  he  had  communicated  with  me  elsewhere  and 
neither  at  this  case  nor  at  Mrs.  Piper's.  He  never 
communicated  with  me  at  Mrs.  Piper's,  a  fact  which 
was  not  known  by  any  one  but  myself.  He  did  pur- 
port to  communicate  with  me  through  Mrs.  Smead, 
where  the  control  was  a  young  man. 

I  come  now  to  a  complicated  series  of  "  cross  ref- 
erences "  of  which  I  cannot  give  the  exact  details, 
as  the  matter  is  private  and  personal,  though  not  so  to 
myself.  At  the  last  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper,  Dr. 
Hodgson  spontaneously  alluded  to  it  and  stated  that 
it  was  private  and  advised  me  against  the  project. 
The  facts  were  known  to  but  three  other  persons 
then  living.  Dr.  Hodgson  had  not  known  it  when 
living.  I  kept  the  facts  so  communicated  absolutely 
secret,  not  reporting  them  to  those  who  keep  the  Piper 
records,  but  filing  the  matter  in  my  own  iron  box. 

A  few  weeks  later  my  wife,  who  passed  away  some 
years  ago,  purported  to  communicate  through  Mrs. 
145 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Smead  and  spontaneously  alluded  to  the  same  project, 
approving  of  it.  Mrs.  Smead  knew  nothing  of  the 
facts  and  nothing  of  allusions  to  them  through  Mrs. 
Piper. 

Through  another  private  medium,  not  a  profes- 
sional in  any  respect,  in  another  city,  whose  psychic 
powers  suddenly  came  to  her  knowledge  all  unwit- 
tingly last  spring,  my  father  purported  to  communi- 
cate, and  alluding  to  the  same  facts  approved  of  the 
project  in  the  identical  language  which  he  used  in 
life  regarding  such  matters.  As  a  test  of  the  case, 
and  thinking  of  what  Dr.  Hodgson  had  communicated 
through  Mrs.  Piper,  I  asked  him  what  Dr.  Hodgson 
thought  about  it.  His  immediate  reply  was  that  he 
was  opposed  to  it  and  that  he  had  frequently  spoken 
to  him  about  it.  In  giving  what  was  alleged  to  be 
Dr.  Hodgson's  opinion  on  the  matter  he  used  an 
expression  which  was  exactly  the  sentiment  that  Dr. 
Hodgson  had  expressed  to  me  some  years  before  his 
death  when  we  were  returning  on  a  boat  from  Nan- 
tasket  Beach.  Presently  Dr.  Hodgson  purported  to 
take  the  place  of  my  father  as  communicator  and 
showed  an  attitude  of  disapproval,  but  was  argued 
by  myself  at  the  time  into  a  half-hearted  acceptance 
of  the  facts,  as  a  test  of  the  mental  attitude  of  com- 
municators. In  the  process  of  our  communications 
he  showed  exactly  the  mental  attitude  which  he  had 
always  taken  on  these  matters. 

Another  instance  which  is  not  so  complicated  and 

hence   not  so  strong,   is   interesting.      On  November 

22nd,  1906,  I  had  an  experiment  with  Mrs.  Quentin 

again  and  the  first  communicator  purported  to  be  Dr. 

146 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

Hodgson.  He  did  not  succeed  in  getting  anything 
evidential  through.  He  was  followed  by  my  father 
who  was  quite  successful  in  several  incidents,  and  he 
by  my  wife  who  succeeded  in  one  suggestive  message. 
The  method  employed  was  the  Ouija  board.  On 
November  27th  I  had  a  sitting  with  the  lady  men- 
tioned above  who  resides  in  another  city  five  hundred 
miles  distant  from  the  place  in  which  Mrs.  Quentin 
lives  and  who,  as  said,  is  a  private  person.  Dr.  Hodg- 
son purported  to  communicate  and  the  following  col- 
loquy occurred,  my  father  purporting  to  be  the  con- 
trol: 

"(Is  any  one  with  you?)" 

Yes,  Hodgson  [written  '  Hodgkins,'  though  the 
lady  knew  well  how  to  spell  the  name]." 

(Good,  will  he  try?) 

I  will  talk  for  him  at  first. 

(How  are  you  Hodgson?) 

I  am  still  a  little  shaky,  but  have  hopes  that  soon 
I  will  be  as  strong  as  anybody. 

(Did  you  try  a  few  days  ago  at  another  place? 
How  did  they  try  to  communicate?) 

Yes,  but  could  not  work  there.  By  talking  with 
the  planchette. 

(Good,  who  else  tried  there?) 

Your  wife.     Your  father  succeeded." 

As  remarked  above  the  Ouija  board  was  the  means 
emplo}red  on  November  22nd,  and  as  this  is  closely 
allied  to  the  planchette  the  mistake  is  not  an  important 
one.  In  all  cases  except  Mrs.  Piper,  Dr.  Hodgson 
apparently  is  very  "  shaky  "  and  finds  it  exceedingly 
difficult  if  not  impossible  to  communicate.  He  shows 
147 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

much  agitation  in  the  Piper  case,  and  that  seems 
the  only  instance  but  one  in  which  he  seems  to  get 
good  messages  through.  The  interest  attaching  to 
the  way  in  which  he  here  speaks  of  my  father's  suc- 
cess can  be  determined  by  the  reader.  As  the  lady 
through  whom  these  messages  came  was  not  in  a  trance 
we  may  assume,  from  her  knowledge  of  the  sittings 
of  the  three  previous  days,  that  she  might  guess 
that  my  father  and  my  wife  had  tried,  so  that  I 
cannot  give  as  much  weight  to  that  fact  as  would 
otherwise  be  the  case.  The  coincidences  taken  to- 
gether, however,  have  their  value,  and  each  reader 
may  estimate  that  according  to  his  knowledge  of 
the  subject. 

Another  brief  incident  may  be  worth  mentioning. 
I  went  to  St.  Louis  to  try  a  private  case,  and  though 
the  lady  was  not  a  good  psychic  I  got  some  evidence 
of  Dr.  Hodgson's  presence.  This  was  not  good 
enough  to  attach  any  special  weight  to  it,  save  that 
the  peculiarly  shaky  style  of  writing  and  the  form 
of  expression  were  characteristic  of  what  was  done 
in  the  Piper  case  when  he  purported  to  communicate. 
His  name  was  written  in  a  characteristic  manner,  and 
when  I  asked  how  he  was  I  got  the  reply :  "  Fine." 
This  was  the  word  that  he  had  used  occasionally  in 
the  Piper  sittings  some  months  before.  This,  of 
course,  could  not  have  any  special  weight  by  itself, 
but  as  a  concomitant  of  manner  and  phrase  that  were 
characteristic  it  should  have  a  place  in  the  record 
of  attempts  to  get  messages  from  him.  The  chief 
value  of  this  and  similar  incidents  is  the  light  which 
they  throw  upon  the  difficulties  of  getting  evidential 
148 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

matter  in  support  of  the  theory  which  the  phenomena 
seem  to  favor. 

To  give  the  fact  more  weight  than  it  would  have 
by  itself  I  should  call  the  reader's  attention  to  a  cir- 
cumstance that  occurred  in  the  fall  a  short  time  after 
my  return  from  this  experiment  in  the  west.  This 
experiment  was  near  the  end  of  September.  On 
October  10th,  at  Mrs.  Piper's,  Dr.  Hodgson,  pur- 
porting to  communicate,  and  after  an  allusion  to  an 
experiment  in  the  summer,  out  west,  said :  "  I  saw 
you  experimenting  with  another  lady.  I  tried  to 
say  Hodgson.  Did  you  get  it  ?  "  It  was  his  full 
name  that  I  got  with  the  word  "  fine "  in  answer 
to  my  greeting.  The  lady,  of  course,  knew  that  he 
had  passed  away  and  that  I  would  be  experimenting 
for  him.  But  this  allusion  to  another  lady  than  the 
one  in  the  summer,  and  the  name,  tends  to  suggest 
that  the  incident  may  be  one  of  "  cross  reference." 
Its  value,  if  it  be  what  it  seems,  consists  in  the  multi- 
plication of  the  references  that  tend  to  add  strength 
to  the  evidence  of  the  supernormal  whose  explanation 
is  obvious  when  we  have  excluded  fraud  and  secondary 
personality.* 

*  I  have  a  still  better  and  much  more  complicated  instance 
of  "  cross  reference "  incidents.  But  as  it  does  not  affect 
Dr.  Hodgson  or  his  personality  I  cannot  detail  its  features 
here.  It  involves  the  prediction  through  two  different  and 
private  mediums  of  the  death  of  a  specific  person  indicated 
with  perfect  clearness,  relationship  to  me  and  another  person 
being  stated.  I  did  not  myself  know  that  the  person  was 
dangerously  ill  at  the  time.  Also,  through  both  mediums  I 
was  told  that  a  certain  deceased  person  was  watching  over  him 
and  would  meet  him.  Through  three  mediums  who  did  not 
know  of  his  death  and  only  a  few  weeks  after  it,  two  of  them 
private  cases  and  the  other  a  respectable  public  medium,  this 
person   was   mentioned   with   the   most   of  his   name,   and   the 

149 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

I  shall  pass  now  from  incidents  involving  "  cross 
reference  "  to  those  which  do  not,  and  confine  myself 
to  what  came  through  Mrs.  Piper  on  October  10th. 
They  may  be  more  specific  than  the  type  which  I 
have  just  illustrated,  and  must  be  adjudged  by  the 
reader  according  to  his  tastes. 

Immediately  after  the  description  of  the  incidents 
connected  with  the  Ouija  board  experiment,  Dr. 
Hodgson,  through  the  automatic  writing  of  Mrs. 
Piper,  said: 

"  I  saw  you  recently  writing  up  all  I  have  said 
to  you. 

(That's  right,  Hodgson.) 

And  it  pleased  me  very  much. 

( I  am  going  to  print  it  in  the  Journal. ) 

Amen.  You  have  my  consent.  I  wish  the  world 
to  know  that  I  was  not  an  idiot. 

(All  right.     That's  good.) 

Do  you  remember  a  joke  we  had  about  George's 
putting  his  feet  on  the  chair  and  how  absurd  we 
thought  it. 

(George  who?) 

Pelham,  in  his  description  of  his  life  here. 

(No,  you  must  have  told  that  to  some  one  else.) 

fact  that  he  met  the  person  who,  I  was  told,  would  meet  him 
as  he  crossed  the  border. 

The  value  of  the  incidents  depends  mainly  upon  the  reli- 
ability of  the  sources  through  which  they  came,  and  I  shall 
urge  that  less  here  than  I  shall  its  evidential  value,  if  the 
trustworthiness  of  the  facts  can  be  accepted.  I  cannot  ex- 
plain here  why  they  can  be  trusted,  but  shall  do  so  when 
the  detailed  record  is  published.  But  their  hypothetical  im- 
portance can  be  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  "  cross 
reference"  while  we  await  the  guarantees  that  normal  knowl- 
edge of  the  facts  was  not  possible. 

150 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

Oh,  perhaps  it  was  Billy.     Ask  him." 

This,  as  I  said,  was  on  October  10th.  During 
the  summer,  some  time  in  August,  I  had  been  writing 
out  the  first  and  the  third  papers  which  are  being 
published  in  the  Journal  on  Dr.  Hodgson's  purported 
communications.  The  fact  was  known  only  to  myself 
and  one  or  two  other  persons.  The  attitude  of  Dr. 
Hodgson  in  approval  of  it  was  entirely  characteristic. 
He  was  anxious,  when  living,  to  have  his  judgment 
in  the  case  vindicated,  and  while  he  might  not  have 
used  the  exact  language  employed  in  this  connection 
he  would  have  expressed  himself  plainly  in  the  matter. 
The  use  of  "  idiot  "  is  quite  characteristic  of  George 
Pelham's  ways,  and  he  may  have  been  an  intermediary. 

The  other  incident  I  knew  nothing  about.  But  I 
knew  what  "  Billy  "  referred  to.  This  was  the  name 
by  which  he  had  always  called  Prof.  Newbold,  and 
so  I  made  inquiry  of  him  regarding  the  pertinence  of 
the  incident.  He  replied  that  he  and  Dr.  Hodgson 
had  laughed  heartily  at  some  statements  of  George 
Pelham,  when  he  was  trying  to  communicate  after 
his  death,  about  the  way  he  did  when  he  was  commu- 
nicating. He  claimed  that  he  was  in  the  medium's 
head  and  his  feet  on  the  table  while  he  was  trying 
to  communicate  through  her  hand.  The  description 
is  ludicrous  enough,  but  the  incident,  perhaps,  is 
good  enough  to  prove  identity,  and  the  best  part  of 
its  value  is  that  I  did  not  know  the  facts. 

Perhaps  a  more  interesting  incident  is  a  frag- 
mentary and  confused  message  whose  meaning  at 
the  moment  I  did  not  detect,  but  it  became  apparent 
soon  afterward  when  I  had  investigated  the  matter 
151 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

further.  The  following  was  communicated  in  the 
same  manner  as  previous  quotations: 

"  Do  you  recall  the  man  I  referred  to  now  ? 

(You  did  not  .  .  .  .)  [My  sentence  not  finished 
as  writing  continued.] 

The  clergyman  whom  we  saw  at  Pa.  San,  whose 
wife  was  anxious  about  his  trances. 

(No,  you  did  not  mention  him.) 

I  did  some  time  ago.     Do  you  remember  him? 

(What  was  his  name?) 

It  was  San.  .  San.  .  Oh  what  was  it.  He  was  a 
young  man  and  had  not  been  married  long." 

The  facts  are  these:  The  Rev.  Stanley  L.  Krebs 
invited  me  to  take  part  in  some  experiments  in  a 
certain  town  in  Pennsylvania  (Pa.)  in  which  he  was 
to  have  present  a  certain  clergyman,  whose  name  I 
must  not  reveal  at  present,  and  who  had  come  thither 
to  test  certain  incidents  that  had  been  mentioned 
through  him  in  a  previous  trance.  He  was  a  young 
man  and  had  not  been  long  married.  His  wife  was 
opposed  to  his  going  into  trances.  We  tried  some 
experiments  at  table  tipping  and  one  with  this  clergy- 
man's trance.  I  reported  the  facts  to  Dr.  Hodgson 
and  Mr.  Krebs  had  some  correspondence  with  Dr. 
Hodgson  regarding  the  case.  There  was  every  reason 
to  believe  the  phenomena  were  genuine.  But  the  man's 
name  has  no  resemblance  to  "  San,"  and  Dr.  Hodg- 
son was  not  present  with  me  at  the  experiments  and 
I  suspect  never  saw  the  clergyman.  But  he  knew 
all  about  the  case  and  its  phenomena.  Apparently 
"  San  "  is  a  confused  and  fragmentary  attempt  to 
give  the  name  "  Stanley,"  a  part  of  Mr.  Kreb's  name, 
152 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

this  latter  part  of  it  having  failed  to  be  recalled  by 
the  communicator.  It  can  be  safely  assumed  that 
Mrs.  Piper  never  heard  of  the  case,  and  if  she  had, 
the  incidents  would  never  have  taken  the  form  which 
they  did.  The  confusion  and  fragmentary  character 
of  the  allusions  make  them  interesting  and  important. 

Another  brief  incident  has  much  interest,  as  re- 
flecting the  natural  action  of  an  independent  mind 
rather  than  that  of  a  telepathic  agent.  It  is  a  re- 
quest that  I  remember  him  to  a  friend  whom  I  did  not 
know,  and  most  probably  never  saw.  He  said  to  me 
near  the  close  of  this  same  sitting :  "  Do  you  remem- 
ber a  friend  of  mine,  George  Goddard,  at  the  camp? 
Give  him  my  love  and  tell  him  I  live  to  send  it." 

I  have  learned  from  Prof.  James  that  Mr.  Goddard 
had  been  a  member  of  Putman's  Camp  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks  where  Dr.  Hodgson  usually  spent  a  part  of 
his  summer  vacations.  I  called  twice  on  Dr.  Hodg- 
son while  he  was  there,  spending  a  couple  of  hours 
there  with  him  each  time.  But  I  do  not  recall  meet- 
ing Mr.  Goddard  there,  and  it  is  improbable  that 
Mrs.  Piper  ever  knew  anything  of  the  man  or  his 
relation  to  Dr.  Hodgson  at  this  camp.  The  main 
point  of  the  incident,  assuming  that  it  is  supernormal, 
is  that  it  is  too  much  like  the  action  of  a  real  living 
friend  to  be  attributed  to  a  mechanical  agency  like 
telepathy,  which,  in  fact,  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
deserving  of  serious  consideration  in  such  incidents. 
A  simple  and  more  natural  interpretation,  if  we  are 
going  to  be  sceptical  about  the  most  obvious  explana- 
tion, is  Mrs.  Piper's  previous  knowledge  of  the  fact, 
a  supposition  which  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  make 
153 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

in   the   light   of   the   proved   supernormal   character 
of  most  of  her  work. 

The  explanation  of  these  facts  takes  us  beyond 
the  case  of  Mrs.  Piper  as  every  intelligent  reader 
must  observe.  That  has  been  the  purpose  of  group- 
ing together  the  instances  of  "  cross  reference  "  in  this 
article.  Members  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search have  constantly  reproached  us  for  having  no 
other  oracle  than  Mrs.  Piper  and  for  making  our 
case  depend  upon  her  phenomena  alone.  That  re- 
proach cannot  be  cast  against  the  contents  of  this 
chapter.  We  have  involved  here  five  other  cases  of 
similar  phenomena.  Moreover  it  should  be  noticed  in 
this  connection  that  the  reproach  made  against  the 
limitation  of  the  case  to  Mrs.  Piper  was  based  upon 
an  entire  misunderstanding  of  the  problem  and  of 
the  reason  for  talking  so  much  about  her.  It  was 
not  the  nature  of  the  phenomena  that  was  the  reason 
for  laying  so  much  weight  upon  it,  but  the  conditions 
under  which  they  were  obtained.  Genuine  phenomena 
may  be  plentiful  enough,  but  scientific  credentials 
may  be  very  scarce.  What  the  Society  has  been 
searching  for  so  strenuously  was  scientific  proof  and 
this  requires  such  conditions  as  exclude  the  possibility 
of  certain  well  known  objections  which  the  sceptic 
has  the  right  to  have  answered,  though  he  too  fre- 
quently entertains  them  without  making  himself  re- 
sponsible for  the  evidence  that  they  are  in  fact  ap- 
plicable. But  we  shall  never  secure  our  case  until  it 
is  made  impossible  rationally  to  suggest  the  common 
objections  to  the  genuineness  of  mediumistic  phe- 
nomena. 

154 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MES.    PIPEE 

Now  it  is  the  scientific  security  of  the  Piper  case 
against  all  possible  objections  of  fraud  that  has  oc- 
casioned the  perpetual  appeal  to  it  as  evidence  that 
the  ordinary  objections  to  the  nature  of  the  facts  do 
not  apply.  Nevertheless  it  is  important,  both  for 
the  further  exclusion  of  the  right  to  suspect  fraud 
and  for  the  complication  of  the  phenomena,  that  we 
should  not  only  secure  other  and  similar  cases,  but 
also  a  complex  system  of  "  cross  references,"  both 
of  which  this  book  supplies.  Whatever  explanation 
be  proposed  it  must  reckon  with  these  facts.  Besides, 
I  have  quoted  cases  of  a  private  nature  only,  save 
one,  Mrs.  Smith,  who  was  protected  against  suspicion 
by  the  small  interval  of  time  between  the  sitting  with 
her  and  that  of  Mrs.  Piper,  as  well  as  the  reservation 
of  facts  which  I  made  in  the  matter  and  the  limitation 
to  myself  of  the  knowledge  which  it  was  necessary 
for  her  to  have  in  order  to  simulate  the  supernormal. 
In  all  other  cases  I  was  dealing  with  private  psychics, 
and  private  also  in  the  sense  that  they  are  not  prac- 
ticing their  art  even  for  their  friends  in  any  general 
way,  as  well  as  not  receiving  any  pay  for  their  exper- 
iments. The  one  case  which  is  not  private  has  no 
suspicions  raised  against  her,  and  even  if  they  were 
they  could  not  apply  to  the  experiment  from  which  I 
quote,  for  the  reasons  mentioned.  Consequently  we 
must  at  least  suppose  that  we  are  dealing  with  facts 
less  exposed  than  is  usually  the  case  to  sceptical  crit- 
icism. 

There  are  just  three  hypotheses  which  are  capable 
of  discussion  in  connection  with  such  facts.  They 
are  (1)  Fraud,  (2)  Telepathy,  and  (3)  Spirits. 
155 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Secondary  personality  would  not  be  presented  as  an 
alternative  by  any  one  who  knows  what  that  phe- 
nomenon is.  Secondary  personality,  in  respect  of 
the  contents  of  its  mental  action,  claims  to  be  limited 
to  the  normal  action  of  the  senses,  and  is  distinguished 
from  fraud  in  that  its  whole  character  is  unconscious, 
while  fraud  is  properly  conscious  deception  by  the 
normal  subject.  If  fraud  in  this  case  be  excluded 
from  view  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  facts  as 
have  been  enumerated  are  supernormal,  whatever  the 
specific  explanation.  But  secondary  personality  never 
assumes  the  supernormal  acquisition  of  knowledge. 
It  is  limited  to  what  has  been  obtained  in  a  normal 
manner  by  the  subject.  Hence  it  is  excluded  from 
view  by  virtue  of  that  fact. 

As  to  fraud,  that  has  been  excluded  from  considera- 
tion in  the  Piper  case  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and 
only  unintelligent  men  would  talk  about  it  any  longer. 
It  has  come  to  a  pass  where  any  one  who  insinuates 
it  must  be  held  responsible  for  the  evidence  of  his 
hypothesis.  As  far  as  possible  I  endeavored  to  con- 
duct the  experiments  in  most  cases  in  a  manner  that 
would  require  the  critic  to  implicate  myself  in  any 
fraud  suspected,  and  in  any  case  of  that  possibility 
I  am  hardly  competent  to  investigate  myself.  But 
some  of  the  facts  make  it  necessary  to  implicate  me 
in  any  theory  of  fraud.  In  so  far  as  the  mediums 
are  concerned,  I  think  it  cannot  even  be  suspected 
without  evidence,  unless  the  one  case  which  is  pro- 
fessional be  conceded  to  the  sceptic.  For  that  reason 
I  think  it  can  be  dismissed  from  the  account,  especially 
as  the  one  case  which  certain  types  of  minds  would 
156 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    MRS.    PIPER 

desire  to  except  does  not  figure  in  any  incidents  where 
criticism  of  any  kind  is  possible. 

I  do  not  think  that  telepathy  as  an  explanation  will 
fare  any  better.  In  fact  I  should  be  ashamed,  as 
one  who  has  tried  to  be  scientific,  to  advance  telepathy 
as  an  explanation  of  any  such  facts.  Any  man  who 
knows  what  he  means  by  the  use  of  this  term  would 
not  venture  to  suppose  it  an  explanation.  As  I  ex- 
pect to  discuss  the  nature  of  telepathy  in  a  later 
chapter  I  shall  not  give  any  special  reasons  for  reject- 
ing it  in  such  facts  as  have  been  collected  here.  I 
merely  say  that  really  scientific  men  who  know  what 
they  are  talking  about,  would  not,  in  the  light  of  the 
evidence,  have  the  temerity  to  propose  it  as  an  ade- 
quate theory  of  phenomena  involving  such  a  system 
of  "  cross  references "  illustrative  of  the  personal 
identity  of  deceased  persons  and  nothing  else.  I 
do  not  think  the  hypothesis  worthy  of  serious  defense. 
It  is  an  hypothesis  worthy  only  of  intellectual  prudes. 
I  should  much  prefer  fraud  as  an  explanation ;  for 
we  have  analogies  and  experiences  enough  to  make 
that  intelligible,  but  for  the  kind  of  telepathy  nec- 
essary to  cover  such  facts  we  have  no  adequate  sci- 
entific evidence  whatever.  It  cannot  be  tolerated  as 
an  hypothesis  in  such  cases  until  its  claims  have  been 
established  for  such  selective  work. 

As  to  the  third  hypothesis,  namely,  that  of  spirits, 
I  shall  not  undertake  any  dogmatic  defense.  It  is 
obvious  to  me  that  it  is  the  most  rational  hypothesis 
after  eliminating  fraud  from  such  matters,  and  my 
own  stand  in  various  publications  would  indicate  what 
position  I  would  preferably  assume.  But  it  is  not 
157 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

my  desire  in  this  article  to  argue  for  this  conclusion. 
My  main  purpose  has  been  to  present  the  facts  and 
to  leave  the  reader  to  form  his  own  conclusion,  but 
to  do  this  without  concealing  the  preference  which 
everyone  perhaps  knows  I  would  make.  I  am  quite 
willing  to  concede  to  many  who  have  not  spent  a  long 
time  in  the  investigation  of  this  complex  subject  the 
right  still  to  be  sceptical,  and  especially  to  doubt  the 
conclusiveness  of  the  facts  making  for  the  theory 
which  seems  to  me  the  most  plausible.  I  can  only 
say  to  them  that  I  have  not  made  up  my  mind  upon 
these  facts  alone,  but  upon  the  whole  mass  of  pub- 
lished and  unpublished  records  of  psychical  research. 
What  I  here  publish  is  but  an  illustration  of  some 
of  the  most  interesting  and  perhaps  most  cogent  facts. 
But  I  shall  not  insist  that  they  should  be  conclusive 
for  the  sceptic.  The  utmost  that  I  shall  urge  upon 
him  is  that  they  make  adequate  investigation  im- 
perative, and  seeing  that  the  phenomena  illustrate 
the  selective  reference  to  the  personal  identity  of 
deceased  persons  I  think  almost  any  one  will  admit 
that,  assuming  fraud  to  have  been  excluded,  they 
make  out  a  forcible  case  for  the  further  investigation 
of  spiritistic  theories. 


158 


CHAPTER  VII 

CONCLUSION  OF  EXPERIMENTS  RELATIVE  TO  DR.  HODG- 
SON ;   THEORIES. 

I  have  hitherto  presented  matter  which  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  claims  for  evidential  character,  that  is, 
something  supernormal  whatever  the  theory  intended 
for  their  explanation.  It  may  be  interesting  to  take 
up  some  of  the  non-evidential  matter  in  illustration 
of  features  which  we  have  to  ignore  when  dealing  with 
scientific  scepticism  and  which  yet  represent  important 
psychological  material  in  the  record. 

The  reader  must  remember  two  things  in  such  a 
record  as  that  of  Mrs.  Piper.  (1.)  There  is  much 
material  that  no  scientific  man  would  suspect  to  have 
a  spiritistic  source  on  its  superficial  appearance.  (2.) 
The  communications  also  exhibit  usually  a  certain 
kind  of  confusion  and  fragmentary  nature  that  per- 
plexes scientific  men  and  the  public  generally.  In 
dealing  with  the  supernormal  phenomena  we  have 
often  to  ignore  these  facts  and  this  may  as  often  give 
a  false  impression  of  the  real  character  of  the  com- 
munications for  which  we  are  asking  credence  as 
coming  from  a  transcendental  world.  It  is,  therefore, 
only  fair  to  all  persons  and  important  to  science  that 
we  should  understand  what  the  matter  is  upon  which 
no  stress  can  be  laid  in  the  argument  for  the  super- 
normal. The  facts  which  impress  us  as  evidence  of 
the  transcendental  are  scattered  about  in  a  matrix 
159 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  alleged  communications  which  we  cannot  treat  evi- 
dentially as  such  at  all.  But,  although  many  com- 
munications are  of  such  a  type  as  not  to  be  conclu- 
sive evidence  of  the  supernormal,  there  are  many 
which  are  confirmatory  and  have  great  value  as  il- 
lustrating what  we  should  most  naturally  expect  on 
some  hypothesis  of  their  explanation.  For  this  rea- 
son they  will  have  an  interest  scarcely  less  important 
to  science  than  the  actually  evidential  incidents.  I 
shall,  therefore,  devote  some  space  to  a  brief  account 
of  some  of  these  data  in  the  records  just  quoted.  I 
shall  only  repeat  to  the  reader  that  I  am  not  quoting 
this  matter  in  any  respect  as  evidence  of  either  spirits 
or  the  supernormal.  If  we  have  any  reasons  for  be- 
lieving it  to  have  the  same  source  as  the  actually 
supernormal  facts  this  conviction  must  have  other 
grounds  than  their  superficial  claims.  After  the  evi- 
dential demands  of  the  supernormal  have  been  satis- 
fied, the  unity  of  all  the  phenomena  with  this  conclu- 
sion may  be  sufficient  to  make  a  respectable  claim  for 
that  source  in  the  non-evidential  statements,  but  I 
shall  not  urge  this  view  of  the  communications  which 
I  expect  to  quote  now.  Readers  may  entertain  what- 
ever view  they  please.  I  shall  insist  only  that  the 
statements  are  a  part  of  the  record  making  a  claim 
for  the  existence  of  spirits. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  the  trance  personalities 
wished  to  do  at  the  sittings  referred  to  was  to  talk 
to  me  about  my  plans.  They  assumed  the  role  of 
superior  guides  and  advisers  and  undertook  to  smooth 
down  my  temper  which  had  been  considerably  ruffled 
by  the  ruthless  disregarding  of  plans  which  had  been 
160 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;     THEORIES 

formulating  for  several  years  to  put  the  work  upon 
a  better  basis  than  it  had  ever  been.  There  can  be 
no  question  of  the  patience  and  tact  with  which  these 
personalities  handled  the  matter,  though  I  do  not 
know  how  much  it  had  been  discussed  by  other  sitters 
prior  to  my  experiments.  It  is  probable  that  the 
whole  mass  of  advice  is  attributable  to  the  suggestions 
of  other  sitters.  But  I  am  less  concerned  with  this 
or  any  other  explanation  than  with  the  bare  fact  of 
psychological  fitness  and  reality  about  it.  I  will  say, 
however,  that  only  one  or  two  persons  knew  my  state 
of  mind  and  one  of  these  was  far  distant  from  Bos- 
ton. It  was  therefore  interesting  to  see  how  clearly 
the  trance  personalities  knew  my  mental  condition. 
They  wanted  to  know  what  I  was  worrying  about, 
and  the  answer  on  my  part  to  this  query  led  to  a 
thorough  threshing  out  of  the  matter  in  a  perfectly 
intelligible  manner  representing  all  the  play  of  reality 
not  less  interesting  to  the  psychologist  than  the 
phenomena  having  better  claims  to  a  supernormal 
source. 

When  Dr.  Hodgson  took  his  turn  to  communicate, 
I  badgered  him  a  little  for  going  before  I  did  when 
he  had  expected  to  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from 
me  first.  I  had  broken  down  in  health  some  years 
before  and  did  not  expect  to  recover.  After  a  little 
chivalry  on  his  part,  as  if  aware  of  the  mood  in  which 
I  was  at  the  time,  namely,  that  of  a  resolution  to 
abandon  the  work  forever,  he  said :  "  Stick  to  it, 
Hyslop.  I  hope  you  will  not  give  up  the  ghost." 
He  then  broke  out  with  the  statement :  "  I  shall  not 
stop  to  talk  rubbish,  but  let  us  get  down  to  facts," 
161 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

thus  characteristically  recognizing  that  it  was  evi- 
dence, not  mere  communication  which  we  wanted.  At 
once,  therefore,  he  asked  me  if  I  remembered  the 
difficulties  which  we  had  in  reference  to  my  Report, 
the  fact  being  that  we  had  many  long  discussions 
about  it.  I  asked  him  presently  if  he  remembered 
the  word  which  he  said  he  would  have  expected  me 
to  communicate  in  proof  of  identity.  It  was  a  word 
that  I  had  used  oftener  than  he  liked,  though  he  ad- 
mitted that  it  described  exactly  what  the  facts  needed. 
He  had  said  he  would  never  believe  it  was  I  if  I  did 
not  communicate  that  word.  It  was  quite  to  the 
point,  therefore,  when  his  reply  was :  "I  do  not 
at  the  moment,  but  I  will  recall  and  repeat  it  for 
you.  I  remember  how  we  joked  about  it."  In  fact, 
we  had  joked  about  it  considerably.  I  have  never 
mentioned  the  circumstance  or  the  word  to  any  other 
living  person,  and  I  shall  not  mention  the  word  to 
any  one.  In  reply  I  told  him  to  take  his  time  and 
then  came  the  following :  — 

"  Surely  I  am  not  going  to  make  a  botch  of  any- 
thing if  I  can  help  it.  It  is  so  suffocating  here. 
I  can  appreciate  their  difficulties  better  than  ever 
before.  Get  my  card  ?  "  alluding  in  the  question 
to  the  fact  that  he  had  prepared  his  usual  Christmas 
cards  for  his  friends,  but  they  were  not  sent  out 
until  after  his  death.  The  mention  of  the  difficulties 
in  communication  was  quite  characteristic,  as  repre- 
senting the  problem  which  we  had  often  discussed 
together  and  which  we  wished  to  have  presented  more 
thoroughly  before  the  public. 

After  some  further  references  to  experiments  which 
162 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

we  had  wished  to  carry  out  while  living  he  interrupted 
the  communications  with  an  allusion  to  an  unverifiable 
experience  after  death.  He  said :  "  It  is  delightful 
to  go  up  through  the  cool  ethereal  atmosphere  into 
this  life  and  shake  off  the  mortal  body."  He  had 
himself  believed  that  the  spiritual  world  was  ethereal 
and  we  have  in  this  passage  one  of  the  many  interpola- 
tions of  communicators  which  represent  possibilities 
but  not  evidence  of  what  these  phenomena  purport 
to  be. 

I  come  now  to  a  passage  which  shows  a  number 
of  interesting  and  important  characteristics.  The 
one  to  which  I  wish  to  call  special  attention  is  the 
abrupt  change  of  subject  that  so  often  occurs  in 
these  phenomena.  It  is  one  that  serves  more  or  less 
as  evidence  of  the  theory  that  the  mental  condition 
necessary  for  communication,  at  least  in  the  "  pos- 
session "  type  of  mediumship,  is  like  a  delirious  dream 
or  a  wandering  and  dreaming  secondary  personality. 
Besides  this  abrupt  change  of  topic  the  reader  will 
notice  also  interpolations  of  various  sorts  which  indi- 
cate the  same  conception  of  the  process.  A  more 
important  observation,  however,  to  be  made  is  one  that 
no  reader  will  realize  who  did  not  know  Dr.  Hodgson 
personally  and  intimately.  It  is  the  expression  of 
thoughts  which  he  would  not  have  expressed  while 
living  in  the  way  they  are  done  here.  There  is  an 
emotional  color  in  the  communications  at  times  that 
would  have  been  inhibited  in  his  natural  conversation. 
The  presence  of  this  in  them  points  to  the  existence 
of  a  trance  condition  on  the  "  other  side  "  as  neces- 
sary for  communication  with  this.  I  do  not  say  that 
163 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

it  proves  this,  but  that  it  consists  with  the  hypothesis 
made  on  other  grounds,  though  it  does  not  explain  all 
the  perplexities  which  accompany  phenomena  of  this 
kind.  The  passage  which  I  wish  to  quote  began 
with  a  more  or  less  evidential  reference  to  an  incident 
connected  with  my  brother  in  my  Report  published 
in  1901.  My  brother  had  taken  serious  objection  to 
what  I  had  said  there  and  hence  I  put  on  record  with 
Dr.  Hodgson  the  facts  confirmed  by  the  testimony 
of  three  other  persons  as  a  check  against  any  possible 
criticism  of  them.  Let  me  note  also  for  the  reader 
that  I  never  "  told  "  him  about  it,  but  I  wrote  out 
the  facts  and  sent  the  documents  to  him  by  mail. 
This  feature  of  the  communications  is  one  of  those 
mistakes  which  are  so  common  and  so  natural  to  a 
dream-like  mental  state  that  the  form  of  the  mes- 
sages when  evidential  at  all  makes  them  especially 
cogent  against  the  unscientific  objection  of  telepathy 
in  the  case.     To  come  then  to  the  passage. 

"  Do  you  remember  telling  me  about  some  objec- 
tions your  brother  made  because  these  good  friends 
told  about  him? 

(Yes,  I  remember  that  well  indeed.) 

I  cannot  forget  anything  if  you  give  me  time  to 
recall.  You  must  have  great  patience  with  me  as 
I  am  not  what  I  hope  to  be  later. 

(All  right,  Hodgson.  Do  you  find  that  we  con- 
jectured the  difficulties  fairly  well?) 

We  did  surprisingly  well.  I  was  surprised  enough. 
Is  my  writing  more  difficult  than  it  used  to  be? 

(It  is  about  the  same.) 

Do  you  remember  anything  about  it? 
164 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

(Yes,  I  do.) 

I  remember  your  comments  about  it,  and  much  was 
left  me  to  explain. 

(Yes,  that  is  true.) 

Of  course  it's  true.  Think  I  am  less  intelligent 
because  I  am  in  the  witness  box? 

(No,  I  understand  the  difficulties.) 

I  hope  you  do,  but  this  is  the  happiest  moment  of 
coming  over  here.     I  mean  in  meeting  you  again. 

(All  right,  Hodgson.  I  feel  that  it  would  have 
been  better  for  you  to  lead  on  this  side.) 

Perhaps,  but  I  am  satisfied.  Do  you  remember 
how  I  said  to  you  I  sometimes  longed  to  get  over  here. 

(Yes,  I  expect  that  was  true  and  I  have  heard 
persons  say  you  said  it.) 

I  did  often.  I  longed  to  see  this  beautiful  country 
if  I  may  so  express  it."  Then  followed  the  incident 
of  our  meeting  in  New  York  mentioned  above. 

Now  the  reader  should  know  that  Dr.  Hodgson 
never  once  expressed  to  me  the  desire  to  pass  to  the 
other  side.  But  as  my  statement  implies  I  have  heard 
others  say  that  he  had  this  wish.  It  was  an  intense 
wish  of  Frederic  W.  H.  Myers,  and  from  the  pri- 
vations which  Dr.  Hodgson  had  to  suffer  in  his  work 
I  can  well  imagine  that  he  may  often  have  wished  to 
be  where  "  the  wicked  ceased  from  troubling  and  the 
weary  are  at  rest."  But  in  asking  me  if  I  remem- 
bered his  saying  it,  his  memory  lapsed,  as  would  be 
natural  in  the  "  suffocating  "  condition  of  which  com- 
plaint is  made  by  more  than  one  communicator. 

The  reader  will  remark  that  he  admits  the  hypothe- 
sis which  we  had  applied  to  the  communicator's  condi- 
165 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tion  while  communicating.  Then  he  suddenly  changes 
to  the  question  of  his  own  handwriting  which  has 
some  relation  to  the  point  or  issue  which  I  had  raised 
about  the  difficulties  of  communicating.  But  the  form 
of  his  question  points  to  a  recollection,  which,  though 
explicable  by  Mrs.  Piper's  knowledge  of  the  same, 
suggests  on  any  theory  a  wandering  consciousness. 
His  handwriting  was  a  very  difficult  one  for  me  to 
read  and  others  of  his  friends  recognized  that  it 
was  very  scrawly.  The  allusion  to  my  comments  on 
it  is  perfectly  true.  As  we  wrote  to  each  other  on 
important  matters,  and  as  I  could  not  read  his  writing 
at  times,  I  had  on  several  occasions  to  return  his  let- 
ters and  ask  for  his  interpretation  of  his  own  writing, 
and  I  indulged  in  some  humorous  observations  about 
it  referring  to  what  a  time  I  would  have  with  it  when 
he  came  to  be  a  communicator,  if  our  hypothesis  about 
the  difficulties  of  communication  were  true.  Then  as 
if  under  the  excitement  of  recognition  he  becomes 
perfectly  clear  and  breaks  out  into  a  natural  tone 
of  banter  for  supposing  that  what  he  says  may  not 
be  true,  though  the  very  clearness  of  his  intelligence 
at  the  time  indicates  a  marginal  conviction  that  he  is 
not  always  so  in  the  attempt  to  communicate.  Then 
that  lucid  moment  runs  into  an  emotional  outburst 
about  his  happiness  at  meeting  me,  a  mood  which 
might  be  natural  enough  for  the  time  and  place  and 
perhaps  reflecting  in  the  message  the  impossibility  of 
hindering  the  passage  of  mental  states  from  beyond 
into  the  automatic  consciousness  or  sub-consciousness 
of  Mrs.  Piper,  but  certainly  also  indicating  what  his 
166 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS;     THEORIES 

friends  would  recognize  as  an  interest  which  he  would 
not  express  in  words  while  living. 

At  the  next  sitting  when  he  turned  up  to  commu- 
nicate he  began  to  reproach  me  for  losing  my  grit  in 
this  work,  as  it  was  known  in  some  way  that  I  meant 
to  abandon  it  unless  some  reasonable  spirit  of  co- 
operation was  shown  by  those  managing  affairs.  In 
the  process  of  our  interview  on  this  matter  he  became 
greatly  excited  and  confused  and  the  hand  wrote  so 
heavily  and  rapidly  that  it  tore  the  paper  and  when 
we  managed  to  have  it  calm  down  the  following  came 
and  was  most  likely  the  interpolation  of  the  control 
or  trance  personality. 

"  In  leaving  the  body  the  shock  to  the  spirit  knocks 
everything  out  of  one's  thoughts  for  awhile,  but  if 
he  has  any  desire  at  all  to  prove  his  identity  he  can 
in  time  collect  enough  evidence  to  prove  his  identity 
convincingly."  Then  Dr.  Hodgson  began  with  his 
reference  to  our  experiment  with  the  voice  case.  (See 
above  p.  100.) 

In  connection  with  this  passage  explaining  the 
effect  of  death,  a  view  quite  consistent  with  what  we 
know  of  physical  shocks  to  the  living  consciousness, 
it  might  be  well  to  quote  what  the  trance  personalit}7 
said  to  me  at  a  sitting  nearly  a  month  later.  To 
try  a  question  which  was  designed  to  test  the  possi- 
bility of  our  getting  marginal  thoughts  of  the  com- 
municator instead  of  the  main  ones  intended,  I  asked 
at  this  later  sitting  if  some  of  the  thoughts  came 
through  that  he  did  not  intend  to  send.  The  answer 
and  colloquy  was  as  follows : 
167 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

"  At  times  they  do  and  then  again  his  thoughts 
are  somewhat  changed.  They  are  not  exactly  what 
they  were  when  in  the  body. 

(Very  good,  I  understand.) 

The  change  called  Death  which  is  really  only  tran- 
sition is  very  different  from  what  one  thinks  before 
he  experiences  it.  That  in  part  explains  why  Myers 
never  took  a  more  active  part  after  he  came  over 
here.  He  had  much  on  his  mind  before  he  came  which 
he  vowed  he  would  give  out  after  he  came  over,  but 
the  shock  [was  such]  that  many  of  his  determinations 
were  scattered  from  his  living  memory.  This  is 
a  petty  excuse  but  a  living  reality  —  a  fact.  It  is 
unmistakably  so  with  every  one  who  crosses  the  border 
line. 

(Yes,  I  can  understand  how  this  would  take  place 
from  similar  shocks  among  the  living.) 

Amen.  Well  then  we  need  give  no  further  explana- 
tions on  this  point  if  it  is  understood  by  you.  How- 
ever when  expecting  the  best  results  the  poorest  may 
be  given,  unless  this  is  fully  understood  by  those  liv- 
ing in  the  mortal  life.  It  is  only  by  simple  recollec- 
tions that  real  proof  of  identity  can  be  given." 

If  I  could  take  any  special  incident  and  compare 
it  with  the  exact  facts  as  known  to  the  living  there 
would  be  much  in  them  to  confirm  such  an  explanation 
of  the  difficulty  and  confusion  connected  with  the 
process  of  communication,  assuming  the  spiritistic 
hypothesis  to  be  a  legitimate  one.  The  explanation 
here  given  by  the  trance  personality  is  certainly  plaus- 
ible though  we  have  no  direct  means  of  verifying  it. 
But  when  we  find  from  internal  evidence  of  the  super- 
168 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

normal  incidents  that  confusion  of  some  kind  is  pres- 
ent we  may  well  entertain  the  possibility  of  a  semi- 
trance  on  the  other  side,  as  a  means  of  studying  the 
phenomena  as  a  whole,  and  hence  I  quote  the  above 
passages  as  a  sample  of  statement  which  must  engage 
the  attention  and  respect  of  the  psychologist,  if  for 
no  other  purpose  than  to  show  its  tenability  in  case 
that  can  be  done. 

A  passage  from  Dr.  Hodgson  points  in  the  same 
direction  as  that  which  I  have  quoted  from  the  trance 
personalities.      He   says :  — 

"  It  is,  I  find,  most  difficult  to  use  the  mechanism 
and  register  clearly  one's  recollections.  I  have  much 
sympathy  for  George  whom  we  badgered  to  death, 
poor  fellow.  He  gave  me  all  I  had  to  hope  for  in 
spite  of  my  treatment  of  him.  Now  just  keep  your 
patience  with  me  and  you  will  have  all  you  could 
ask  for.     Understand  ?  " 

"  George  "  refers  to  the  man  whom  Dr.  Hodgson 
called  "  George  Pelham  "  in  his  Report  on  the  Piper 
case  and  who  was  instrumental  after  his  death  in  prov- 
ing to  Dr.  Hodgson  the  truth  of  the  spiritistic  hy- 
pothesis. "  George "  was  his  Christian  name,  but 
"  Pelham  "  was  not  his  surname.  It  was  after  Dr. 
Hodgson  tried  the  hypothesis  of  a  dream-like  state  as 
necessary  to  communicate,  that  he  began  to  understand 
the  difficulties  in  the  theory.  He  then  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  best  course  to  take  in  the  experi- 
ments was  to  let  the  communicator  have  his  own  way 
and  not  to  "  badger  him  to  death."  He  often  re- 
marked to  me  that  we  could  not  get  what  we  wanted 
if  we  kept  nagging  at  the  communicator.  Here  is 
169 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  repetition  of  this  conception  at  a  moment  which 
the  detailed  record  shows  to  have  been  one  of  confu- 
sion and  excitement. 

As  further  illustration  of  the  rapid  movement  of 
the  memory  from  incident  to  incident,  occasioned  pos- 
sibly partly  by  the  uninhibited  process  of  thinking 
on  the  other  side  and  by  the  slow  mechanical  process 
of  the  writing  compared  with  this  rapid  thought  in 
their  world,  we  may  continue  the  passage  which  I 
have  just  quoted.  When  he  asked  me  to  have  patience 
with  him  and  I  would  get  all  I  could  ask  for,  I  went 
on:  — 

"  (Yes,  I  am  quite  willing  to  let  you  have  your 
own  way  fully.) 

I  shall  take  it  in  spite  of  you.  I  am  determined 
to  do  what  I  think  best.  Do  you  remember  the  tussle 
I  had  with  you  about  getting  that  book  in  order  ? 

(Yes,  we  had  many  tussles.) 

Indeed  we  did.  I  am  wondering  if  you  recall  some 
lines  I  wrote  you  once  a  year  or  two  before  I  came 
when  you  were  in  the  mountains  for  your  health? 

(I  do  not  now  recall  them,  but  it  is  likely  that  I 
can  find  out  because  I  have  absolutely  all  your  letters. 
Can  you  mention  a  few  words  of  the  line?) 

You  remember  the  lines  I  used  to  quote  often,  run- 
ning like  this :  '  patience  is  a  blessing,'  and  your  an- 
swer, and  the  subject  of  the  rest.  You  were  pleased 
and  replied  they  were  apropos  of  your  condition." 

Now  just  as  I  had  said  I  had  kept  absolutely 

every  line  Dr.  Hodgson  ever  wrote  me  from  the  time 

I  arranged  for  my  sittings  with  Mrs.  Piper  in  1898 

until  his  death  at  the  end  of  1905.     There  was  there- 

170 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

fore  a  fine  chance  to  verify  what  was  said  here.  Con- 
sequently I  examined  every  letter  written  me  after  I 
broke  down  in  June  in  1901  until  I  left  the  mountains 
in  April,  1902,  and  not  a  trace  of  any  such  lines 
appear  in  the  correspondence.  In  fact  not  a  word 
of  counsel,  consolation  and  spiritual  reflection  occurs 
in  it.  Nor  do  I  recall  any  mental  attitude  of  the 
kind  in  any  other  part  of  the  correspondence.  Dr. 
Hodgson's  habit  of  indulging  in  sentiment  of  this 
kind,  so  far  as  I  knew  him,  was  in  his  Christmas 
cards  which  he  regularly  sent  out  to  his  friends  each 
year  at  the  holidays.  We  have  then  a  promise  to 
prove  his  identity  as  George  Pelham  had  done,  and  in 
fulfillment  of  it  an  incident  that  is  wholly  false  in  re- 
lation to  me,  though  possibly  true  in  relation  to  some 
one  else,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  "  nigger  talk  "  first 
referred  to  Myers  and  then  corrected  to  Prof.  James 
(p.  97).  We  can  well  understand  why  the  trance 
personality  should  indicate  the  shock  which  death 
may  occasion  to  the  memory  in  the  attempt  to  come 
back  and  communicate.  The  incident  here  quoted 
has  the  same  characteristics  which  a  delirium  would 
have,  reproducing  a  mosaic  of  one's  past  experiences, 
telling  enough  to  show  that  the  facts  are  at  least 
partly  correct,  as  in  the  allusion  to  my  being  in  the 
mountains  for  my  health  —  a  fact  most  probably 
known  to  Mrs.  Piper  —  and  another  which  repre- 
sented a  probable  trait  in  his  character  but  not  ex- 
hibited toward  me  in  the  manner  stated.  I  have 
myself  witnessed  just  such  phenomena  in  the  deliria 
of  the  living. 

Another  passage  has  a  striking  interest  as  showing 
171 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

an  appreciation  of  the  problem.  I  have  said  pre- 
viously that  he  was  always  on  the  alert  for  the  type 
of  fact  that  could  not  be  explained  by  telepathy  and 
that  the  message  with  reference  to  Prof.  Newbold 
(p.  105)  was  not  explicable  by  that  hypothesis  as 
applied  to  my  mind.  At  my  last  sitting  after  I  had 
ascertained  from  Prof.  Newbold  that  the  allusion 
was  correct,  I  had  also  had  some  correspondence  with 

a  Dr.  B ,  who  had  had  a  sitting  and  to  whom 

Dr.  Hodgson  had  made  a  similar  statement  with  other 
incidents  of  what  had  happened  in  the  conversation 
between  Dr.  Hodgson  and  Prof.  Newbold  on  the  ocean 
beach.  At  this  last  sitting  Dr.  Hodgson  brought  up 
the  subject  spontaneously  and  soon  showed  what  re- 
lation it  had  to  the  telepathic  hypothesis  by  the  way 
he  spoke  of  it,  as  the  reader  will  perceive  in  my  quo- 
tation. 

"  Did  Dr.  B.  prove  my  message? 

(Dr.   B found  that   your  message  to   Billy 

about  some  conversation  that  you  and  he  had  the 
last  time  you  saw  him  was  exactly  correct  and  he 
was  delighted  with  it.) 

Amen.  (Yes,  Hodgson,  and  you  told  me  the  same 
thing  twice.)  What  thing?  Before  I  came  over? 
Do  you — ■ —  [remember  it?] 

(Yes,  Hodgson.)  Oh  yes,  I  remember  it  well. 
(Good.) 

There  is  no  telepathy  in  this  except  as  it  comes 
from  my  mind  to  yours. 

(Good.  Then  telepathy  is  at  least  a  part  of  the 
process  by  which  you  communicate  with  me.) 


172 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

Most  assuredly  it  is  and  I  had  a  vague  idea  before 
I  came  over. 

(Yes,  you  did.) 

You  remember  our  talks  about  the  telepathic  theory 
of  our  friends'  thoughts  reaching  us  from  this  side 
telepathieally." 

We  did  have  several  conversations  on  this  point  and 
the  reader  may  interpret  for  himself  the  psychological 
interest  and  importance  of  the  allusion  to  telepathy 
in  this  connection,  especially  when  it  is  related  to  an 
incident  not  known  to  myself  at  the  time  it  was  first 
mentioned. 

As  I  have  already  remarked  I  cannot  produce  this 
as  proof  of  the  existence  of  spirits,  though  I  think 
many  readers  will  think  it  of  the  type  of  evidence  that 
would  constitute  good  proof  if  it  were  not  complicated 
with  the  personal  acquaintance  of  the  communicator 
with  the  medium  before  his  death.  I  have  been  care- 
ful to  quote  the  incidents  which  certainly  border  on 
the  evidential  while  they  as  certainly  appear  charac- 
teristic of  the  alleged  communicator,  with  such  modifi- 
cations as  might  naturally  occur  both  from  the  un- 
natural conditions  under  which  the  communications 
must  be  made  and  from  the  amnesic  and  disturbed 
mental  state  of  the  communicator,  as  that  is  supposed 
for  the  sake  of  explaining  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  phenomena.  But  leaving  this  hypothesis  aside 
for  the  moment,  the  incidents  are  a  part  of  a  large 
record  which  contains  here  and  there  an  incident  so 
specific  and  clear  in  its  evidence  of  intelligence  that, 
when  fraud  is  eliminated  from  its  explanation,  we 
have  to  face  an  important  theory  to  account  for  the 
173 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

sporadic  facts  while  we  endeavor  in  some  way  to  make 
the  non-evidential  incidents  intelligible  at  all.  What 
these  partially  correct  facts  show  above  all  else  is  the 
complications  under  which  anything  supernormal  can 
be  acquired,  and  that  once  admitted  there  is  the  chance 
to  make  the  whole  intelligible  and  rational.  That  is 
the  chief  task  of  the  future.  I  suspect  many  are 
sufficiently  puzzled  for  methods  of  explaining  away 
the  meaning  of  the  most  evidential  facts  to  halt  only 
at  the  difficulties  of  comprehending  the  circumstance 
that,  if  messages  can  come  through  at  all  from  the 
transcendental  world,  they  might  be  more  satisfying. 
The  removal  of  the  scepticism  which  bases  itself  on 
this  conception  of  the  matter  is  the  problem  of  larger 
experiments  and  the  scientific  world  must  undertake 
the  solution  of  the  problem  in  a  spirit  of  patience 
and  not  make  demands  which  would  not  be  made  in 
any  other  complicated  inquiry.  I  appreciate  the  feel- 
ing that,  if  messages  come  at  all,  they  should  be 
clearer.  But  the  proper  attitude  to  take  is  that  which 
frankly  recognizes  that  the  collective  meaning  of 
the  evidential  facts  must  determine  the  theory  adopted 
and  we  must  seek  subsidiary  explanations  for  the 
associated  matter.  What  people  often  think  an  ob- 
jection to  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  is  not  this  at 
all,  but  a  perplexity  in  it,  a  subsidiary  question  which 
has  to  be  answered  by  further  inquiry.  This  may  as 
well  be  understood  at  first  as  at  last,  and  faced  in  the 
spirit  of  true  scientific  investigation. 

We  must  remember,  too,  that  the  same  perplexity 
arises  in  any  theory  whatsoever  that  we  may  take  in 
the  case.     Even  the  hypothesis  of  fraud  cannot  escape 
174 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;     THEORIES 

the  duty  to  account  for  the  peculiarities  illustrated, 
and  much  more  must  telepathy.  It  is  amusing  to  see 
the  objector  to  the  spiritistic  theory  accept  telepathy 
without  raising  the  question  as  to  how  it  can  account 
for  the  psychological  peculiarities  of  the  phenomena 
imitative  of  deliria  and  dream-like  states  on  the  other 
side,  and  yet  press  this  limitation  against  the  only 
theory  that  can  give  a  rational  explanation  of  them. 
If  the  advocate  of  telepathy  really  knew  anything 
about  that  process  or  hypothesis  at  all  he  would  be 
ashamed  to  urge  it  with  so  much  confidence.  He 
would  find  a  most  imperative  duty  to  investigate  it 
more  carefully  to  see  if,  in  the  real  or  alleged  com- 
munications between  the  living  there  were  traces  of 
imperfect  memories  and  delirious  mental  states  on 
the  part  of  agents.  I  shall  not  deny  the  possibility 
of  this,  but  until  it  is  shown  to  be  a  scientific  fact, 
which  the  present  record  of  alleged  telepathic  phe- 
nomena does  not  suggest,  we  are  not  privileged  scien- 
tifically to  urge  such  a  process  in  explanation  of  the 
record  under  discussion.  The  spiritistic  theory  may 
not  be  the  right  one.  With  that  I  am  not  at  present 
concerned.  But  it  is  entitled  to  such  possibilities  as 
commend  it  against  the  inferior  claims  of  other  hy- 
potheses. That  is  all  that  I  am  urging  for  the  mo- 
ment. Hence  it  is,  I  think,  that  the  really  scientific 
man  prefers  the  simple  theory  of  fraud  as  the  more 
difficult  one  of  the  three  to  displace.  Secondary  per- 
sonality he  sees  does  not  account  for  the  supernormal 
part  of  the  phenomena,  however  it  might  appear  to 
account  for  the  non-evidential  matter.  It  would  be  a 
curious  theory  which  limited  the  explanatory  functions 
175 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  its  process  to  what  was  relevant  to  spirits  and 
wholly  excluded  this  from  matter  which,  though  not 
evidential,  is  characteristic  of  the  conjectured  source 
supposed  in  this  case.  Hence  I  think  we  may  pre- 
sent, at  least  provisionally,  the  hypothesis  of  discar- 
nate  agency  while  we  press  for  an  investigation 
equally  thorough  with  that  of  the  past,  and  perhaps 
even  more  prolonged  and  extended  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  limitations  of  the  communications. 

I  have  here  merely  hinted  at  the  explanations  of  the 
confusion  and  limitations  of  the  incidents  purporting 
to  be  messages  from  a  spirit  world.  I  have  been  try- 
ing to  confine  the  subject  and  the  evidence  to  what 
purports  to  come  from  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson,  but 
the  issue  at  tins  point  is  so  important  and  the  mis- 
understanding so  great  that  I  think  it  proper  in  this 
last  article  to  diverge  somewhat  from  the  material 
affecting  the  personality  of  Dr.  Hodgson  and  to  dis- 
cuss what  is  apparently  the  most  important  difficulty 
in  the  problem  and  in  doing  so  to  introduce  general 
evidence  from  other  communicators  and  other  psy- 
chics. 

I  shall  begin  this  part  of  the  discussion  by  an  allu- 
sion to  the  difficulty  which  it  seems  both  laymen  and 
scientific  men  encounter  when  asked  to  believe  that 
we  are  communicating  with  spirits.  This  difficulty, 
which  is  usually  stated  as  an  objection,  is  due  to  the 
triviality  and  confusion  of  the  communications.  It 
occasionally  takes  the  form  of  complaint  that  we  have 
nothing  to  show  regarding  the  conditions  of  life  in 
a  spiritual  world.  I  wish  to  take  up  these  matters 
176 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;     THEORIES 

and  to  deal  with  them  as  thoroughly  as  limited  space 
will   permit. 

I  think  I  may  best  take  as  illustrative  of  this  dif- 
ficulty some  remarks  of  the  editor  of  an  intelligent 
newspaper  which  were  published  in  reference  to  my 
article  in  the  February  Journal.  They  put  into 
definite  shape  a  number  of  points  such  as  I  constantly 
meet  when  discussing  the  question,  and  as  the  editorial 
treatment  of  the  matter,  though  critical  and  sceptical, 
was  entirely  friendly  to  the  investigation,  it  may 
conduce  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  whole  prob- 
lem to  make  it  the  subject  of  a  careful  and  friendly 
reply. 

After  alluding  to  some  statements  of  my  own  ex- 
planatory of  what  is  necessary  in  proof  of  personal 
identity,  which  is  the  primary  issue  for  the  scientific 
man,  namely,  trivial  incidents  of  a  past  earthly  life 
that  are  verifiable,  the  editor  of  the  Providence  Jour- 
nal went  on  with  the  following  remarks :  — 

"  It  is  perhaps  best  to  judge  the  evidence  presented 
by  Professor  Hyslop  upon  this  ground,  although  to 
many  persons  it  will  seem  that  this  is  fundamentally 
an  error.  To  such  persons  the  obvious  possibility  of 
the  absorption  of  such  '  trivial  incidents  '  by  telepathic 
communication  with  the  '  spirit '  before  his  or  her  de- 
parture from  the  flesh,  however  impossible  might  be 
any  theory  of  acquaintance  with  the  facts  by  the 
ordinary  means  of  intercourse,  will  serve  as  a  serious 
if  not  a  definite  deterrent  to  the  acceptation  of  the 
relation  as  a  proof  of  anything.  But  even  casting 
aside  this  basic  objection  and  admitting  the  concep- 
177 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tion  of  Professor  Hyslop  to  be  correct,  it  is  still  im- 
possible to  see  wherein  this  narrative  of  experiments 
—  interesting  as  it  is  —  establishes  the  slightest  link 
in  the  chain,  which,  in  all  sincerity,  the  investigators 
headed  by  him  are  endeavoring  to  forge.  Every  por- 
tion of  it  relates  solely,  in  a  more  or  less  confused 
manner,  to  the  interests  of  Dr.  Hodgson  on  earth. 
There  is  not  the  faintest  indication  of  '  supernormal 
information.'  It  must  be  said  frankly  that  neither  in 
quantity  nor  quality  does  the  information  presented 
lead  even  to  the  suggestion  of  a  '  spiritistic  theory.' 
If  spirits,  who  in  life  possessed  the  intelligence  of  Dr. 
Hodgson,  talk  such  muddle-headed  nonsense  the  mo- 
ment they  discard  the  flesh,  then  Heaven  help  the  fool- 
ish ones  of  this  earth." 

I  shall  first  discuss  the  entire  misunderstanding  of 
the  problem  which  this  writer  exhibits ;  a  misunder- 
standing, however,  which  is  shared  by  many  others. 

In  the  first  place  the  telepathy  which  this  writer 
assumes  and  refers  to  "  absorption  "  by  the  living 
of  the  thoughts  of  others  has  absolutely  no  scientific 
evidence  whatever  for  its  existence.  You  cannot  quote 
the  facts  purporting  to  be  from  spirits  in  proof  of  it, 
because  they  bear  so  definitely  on  the  personal  iden- 
tity of  deceased  persons.  You  will  have  to  get  evi- 
dence not  so  related  and  there  is  absolutely  none  such 
of  a  scientific  character.  The  thing  you  have  to 
explain,  is  not  the  remarkable  nature  of  the  facts,  but 
their  uniform  relation  to  deceased  persons.  Telep- 
athy which  can  acquire  incidents  about  dead  people 
but  cannot  acquire  any  about  the  living  is  a  curious 
capacity  and  perilously  near  being  devilish.  It  may 
be  so,  of  course,  but  face  that  issue  when  you  pro- 
178 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS;    THEORIES 

pose  the  assumption.  Apropos  of  this  I  may  ask 
also  how  you  are  going  to  account  for  the  trivialities 
and  confusion  on  such  a  remarkable  faculty?  A 
power  infinite  in  everything  but  access  to  important 
facts  is  a  worse  anomaly  in  human  knowledge  than 
spirits  can  possibly  be.  In  fact  you  cannot  rationally 
account  for  the  limitation  to  triviality  at  all  on  the 
telepathic  hypothesis,  while  this  is  perfectly  simple 
on  the  spiritistic. 

But  no  scientific  man  believes  in  the  kind  of  telep- 
athy here  supposed.  He  will  only  ask  for  inde- 
pendent evidence  that  it  is  a  fact  before  using  it  as 
a  substitute  for  a  spiritistic  interpretation  of  facts 
related  only  to  the  personal  identity  of  deceased  per- 
sons. We  shall  simply  throw  upon  the  adherent  of 
it  the  responsibility  for  the  evidence  of  his  assumption 
and  if  that  is  forthcoming  we  shall  consider  it  dis- 
passionately. 

In  the  second  place,  the  writer's  conception  of  the 
"  supernormal "  is  wholly  different  from  that  of  the 
scientific  man  and  he  strangely  demands  as  proof  of 
a  future  life  communications  which  are  absolutely 
unverifiable  in  the  present  stage  of  the  inquiry.  He 
complains  that  the  evidence  is  confined  solely  to  Dr. 
Hodgson's  earthly  life.  This  is  precisely  where  the 
cogency  of  the  facts  and  argument  lies.  We  could 
not  at  present  verify  scientifically  any  statement 
whatever  about  the  conditions  in  a  transcendental 
world.  "  Supernormal  "  does  not  mean  knowledge  of 
things  in  a  spiritual  world;  nor  does  it  necessarily 
imply  anything  spiritual  whatever.  Many  confuse  it 
with  the  "  supernatural,"  but  psychic  researchers 
179 


(■ 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

adopted  it  to  eliminate  all  the  associations  of  that 
term  and  to  mean  something  not  acquired  in  a  normal 
way.  It  is  a  purely  negative  term,  implying  nothing 
definite  about  either  the  "  supernatural  "  or  anything 
in  a  transcendental  world.  In  other  words,  "  super- 
normal "  means  and  only  means  beyond  or  transcend- 
ing normal  sense  perception.  It  does  not  mean  any 
special  view  of  what  is  beyond  and  it  does  not  in  any 
respect  imply  the  spiritual,  even  though  this  happen 
to  be  included  in  it  after  the  investigation  has  gone 
far  enough  to  justify  that  belief.  It  means  nothing 
more  than  the  fact  that  we  have  gotten  something 
which  cannot  be  explained  as  having  a  sensory  origin, 
that  is,  an  origin  in  normal  sense  perception.  All 
that  is  verifiable  must  either  have  been  acquired  by 
the  sense  perception  of  the  subject  or  must  exist  in 
the  memory  of  living  persons.  The  nature  and  con- 
ditions of  a  spiritual  world  and  its  life  are  not  so 
verifiable,  and  no  intelligent  man  would  expect  or 
demand,  as  evidence,  communications  of  this  kind  in 
proof  of  a  spiritual  world,  to  say  nothing  of  the  im- 
possibility of  making  it  intelligible  if  communication 
about  it  were  tried. 

It  is  the  last  objection  which  always  seems  the  most 
cogent  to  the  sceptic.  The  writer  thinks  that  intel- 
ligent persons  like  Dr.  Hodgson  would  not  or  ought 
not  to  talk  such  "  muddle-headed  nonsense."  I  shall 
confidently  reply  at  this  point  that  the  best  part  of 
our  evidence  for  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  is  just  this 
nonsense.  What  the  critic  thinks  is  a  fatal  objection 
is  our  best  proof.  That  is  a  contention  which  may 
surprise  many  an  objector,  but  it  is  one  that  I  ad- 
180 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

vance  and  I  am  certain  that  it  will  put  the  sceptic 
to  his  wits  to  sustain  his  assumption  that  intelligent 
men  would  do  much  better  than  the  evidence  seems 
to  indicate.  I  shall  boldly  challenge  any  successful 
defense  of  the  writer's  position. 

Now  if  Dr.  Hodgson  was  so  intelligent  a  person 
how  would  the  critic  account  for  the  "  absorption 
by  telepathy  while  in  the  flesh  "  of  exclusively  trivial 
incidents?  On  the  critic's  assumption  we  ought  to 
have  had  very  intelligent  messages,  intelligent  after 
the  type  of  his  conception.  But  instead  of  that  we 
have  what  are  alleged  to  be  exclusively  trivial  facts. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  alleged  communicator  had 
not  been  an  intelligent  man,  according  to  the  critic's 
point  of  view  we  might  explain  the  limitations  of  the 
messages.  But  he  concedes  that  Dr.  Hodgson's 
earthly  life  was  intelligent  and  admits  the  exclusive 
limitation  of  the  incidents  to  that  life. 

But  I  shall  not  dwell  on  dialectics  of  this  kind  as 
they  are  not  important.  What  we  have  to  realize 
is  two  or  three  fundamental  things  in  this  problem, 
which  I  shall  have  to  reiterate  again  and  again  in 
order  to  have  the  point  made  in  the  spiritistic  hypoth- 
esis that  is  here  defended. 

I  recur  again  to  the  conception  of  the  supernormal. 
I  said  and  I  repeat  that  it  denotes  the  acquisition  of 
information  by  some  other  means  than  normal  sense 
perception.  With  this  view  in  mind  I  shall  again 
define  the  problem  which  is  before  the  advocate  of 
the  spiritistic  theory. 

There  are  three  fundamental  conditions  of  a  spirit- 
istic hypothesis.  ( 1 )  The  information  acquired  must 
181 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

be  supernormal,  that  is,  not  explicable  by  normal  per- 
ception. (2)  The  incidents  must  be  verifiable  mem- 
ories of  the  deceased  persons  and  so  representative 
of  their  personal  identity.  (3)  The  incidents  must 
be  trivial  and  specific  —  not  easily,  if  at  all,  dupli- 
cated in  the  common  experience  of  others.  Any  other 
kind  of  facts  will  be  exposed  to  sceptical  objections 
which  may  be  unanswerable. 

The  point  of  view  which  the  psychic  researcher  has 
to  take  is  that  of  the  materialist.  That  is,  he  must 
assume  that  the  materialistic  theory  has  the  first  claim 
to  consideration  and  that  the  facts  must  at  least  be 
inconsistent  with  its  claims  in  order  to  obtain  any 
fulcrum  for  the  spiritistic  view.  Now  the  material- 
istic theory  maintains  that  consciousness  is  a  function 
of  the  brain  and  so  perishable  with  it.  This  view  is 
universally  conceded  for  the  various  functions  of  the 
bodily  organism,  such  as  digestion,  circulation,  secre- 
tion, etc.  All  these  are  admittedly  organic  functions 
and  so  perishable  with  the  body.  If  consciousness 
is  a  similar  function  it  has  the  same  fate.  Now  since 
we  have  no  evidence,  apart  from  the  alleged  phenom- 
ena on  record  by  psychic  researchers,  that  conscious- 
ness can  exist  without  a  bodily  organism,  we  have 
to  ascertain,  if  possible,  if  the  phenomena  so  alleged 
point  to  its  survival.  If  they  do,  the  materialistic 
theory  cannot  be  sustained  and  the  case  is  proved. 
Men  may  differ  as  to  the  nature  of  the  facts,  but, 
their  supernormal  character  once  admitted,  the  issue 
is  clearly  defined  and  open  to  discussion.  Any  facts, 
no  matter  what  their  character  and  no  matter  what 
the  logical  consequences,  that  supply  the  three  char- 
182 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

acteristics  mentioned,  supernormality,  relevance  to 
personal  identity  of  deceased  persons,  and  specific 
triviality,  will  be  relevant  to  the  conclusion  which  the 
spiritist  draws  and  must  be  entitled  to  fair  considera- 
tion. But  we  cannot  assume  that  alleged  communica- 
tions should  be  anything  more  than  proof  of  identity, 
and  we  are  entitled  to  assume  that  they  must  be  this 
because  it  is  a  primary  and  essential  condition  of  be- 
lieving in  the  existence  of  spirits.  The  messages 
may  be  insane,  if  you  like,  but  they  must  be  super- 
normal, specific  and  relevant  to  the  identity  of  de- 
ceased persons.  What  we  shall  make  of  such  a  life 
is  not  our  business  as  scientific  men  at  the  outset  of 
our  problem.  What  use  it  may  be  does  not  enter 
into  any  conception  of  the  matter  at  first  except  that 
of  intellectual  snobs  and  aesthetes.  We  have  to  ex- 
plain the  facts  and  accept  the  consequences.  We  shall 
show  the  use  of  the  conclusion  later  in  the  work. 
At  present  the  question  is,  not  whether  we  are  beings 
of  superior  intelligence  after  death,  but  whether  con- 
sciousness survives  death  at  all,  and  once  convinced 
of  that  we  can  take  up  the  problem  of  the  nature  of 
that  survival,  its  limitations,  if  any,  the  perplexities 
attending  the  kind  of  messages,  their  confusion  and 
triviality,  and  the  rarity  of  the  phenomena.  But 
these  characteristics  are  not  objections  to  the  hypoth- 
esis; they  are  only  additional  issues  within  it.  They 
are  questions  only  after  admitting  it,  not  facts  op- 
posed to  it.  This  I  think  can  be  made  clear  in  the 
sequel. 

Now  admitting  that  fraud  has  been  excluded  from 
consideration  of  such  facts  as  this  series  of  articles 
183 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

records  I  think  every  intelligent  reader  will  admit 
that  they  conform  to  the  three  conditions  of  a  spirit- 
istic hypothesis.  I  shall  not  here  urge  that  they  prove 
it.  I  simply  say  that  these  three  conditions  have 
been  satisfied.  We  may  have  to  satisfy  other  con- 
ditions. I  leave  that  matter  to  those  who  do  not  start 
with  the  assumed  truth  or  possibility  of  the  material- 
istic theory  of  things.  I  am  here  testing  only  the 
theory  of  materialism.  I  think,  therefore,  that  the 
satisfaction  of  these  three  conditions  at  least  throws 
a  doubt  upon  materialism  as  an  explanation  of  con- 
sciousness, and  the  next  question  is  to  account  for 
the  peculiar  character  of  the  facts  which  seem  to 
refute  that  theory. 

I  think  every  one  who  reflects  a  moment  will  admit 
that  only  trivial  facts  will  prove  personal  identity, 
whether  of  the  living  or  of  the  dead.  If  it  be  doubted 
the  experiment  has  only  to  be  tried,  and  in  a  large 
system  of  them  some  years  ago  with  Columbia  Uni- 
versity students  and  professors  I  showed  that  rational 
men  would  select  incidents  quite  as  trivial,  or  even 
more  trivial,  to  prove  their  identity  over  a  telegraph 
wire.  This  circumstance,  I  think,  removes  all  force 
of  the  alleged  objection  to  spirit  messages  on  the 
ground  of  mere  triviality. 

But  I  am  going  frankly  to  concede  that  it  is  not 
the  bare  fact  of  triviality  that  gives  the  trouble.  It 
is  the  two  facts  of  (1)  persistent  triviality,  and  (2) 
confusion  in  the  incidents,  presumably  suggesting  a 
degenerated  personality  very  different  from  the  living 
person  we  knew  in  his  best  estate.  This  is  the  per- 
plexity which  we  have  to  face  and  which  is  implied 
184 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

in  the  article  which  I  have  quoted  from  the  Providence 
Journal. 

It  is  here  that  I  propose  to  urge  the  fundamental 
feature  of  a  spiritistic  theory,  one  that  is  an  essential 
part  of  that  hypothesis  for  certain  types  of  mediums. 
I  shall  call  them  the  "  possession "  type  as  distin- 
guished from  the  subliminal  type.  The  term  is 
tentative,  though  it  represents  a  distinction  between 
the  phenomena  which  I  have  neither  time  nor  space 
here  to  discuss,  and  I  make  it  in  order  not  to  be  taken 
as  asserting  or  supposing  that  the  view  which  I  shall 
present  assumes  a  universal  condition  of  the  phenom- 
ena. But  I  want  to  emphasize  the  adjunctive  hypoth- 
esis which  I  mean  to  elaborate  somewhat  as  one 
which  explains  away  all  the  objections  and  difficulties 
that  the  sceptic  has  been  in  the  habit  of  presenting 
against  the  spiritistic  theory.  Hitherto  there  has  been 
no  opportunity  to  present  and  discuss  this  aspect  of 
the  problem  in  a  public  way.  The  popular  periodicals 
want  sensational  matter,  and  care  little  for  important 
truths.  The  scientific  journals  have  lived  in  such 
contempt  of  the  whole  subject  that  they  would  not 
permit  the  discussion  of  it,  and  so  we  have  had  to 
remain  silent  for  lack  of  means  to  discuss  this  funda- 
mental feature  of  the  theory  before  intelligent  readers. 
Fortunately  we  have  now  an  opportunity  to  present 
it  and  to  ask  consideration  of  it. 

What  I  refer  to  is  the  explanation  of  the  persistent 
triviality  and  confusion  of  the  communications  which 
purport  to  come  from  the  discarnate.  I  shall  premise, 
however,  that  this  accusation  that  the  communications 
are  always  so  trivial  and  confused  is  in  fact  not 
185 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

true.  No  doubt  it  appears  so  from  the  examples 
which  we  publish  and  discuss.  On  this  account  I 
can  respect  the  difficulty  on  the  part  of  all  who  have 
not  made  a  special  study  of  the  phenomena.  But 
the  fact  is  that  the  communications  are  not  always 
trivial  as  is  supposed.  There  are  two  decided  limita- 
tions to  this  accusation.  The  first  is  that  the  ques- 
tion of  triviality  depends  wholly  upon  the  point  of 
view  assumed  in  the  problem.  If  the  communicator 
realizes  that  he  has  his  identity  to  prove  he  will  nec- 
essarily limit  himself  to  trivial  recollections,  assum- 
ing that  he  can  control  his  state  of  consciousness  at 
the  time  of  his  communications.  Those  who  read  the 
Piper  case  carefully  will  discover  that  the  phenomena 
have  all  the  appearance  at  least  of  being  organized 
efforts  on  the  "  other  side  "  to  prove  the  identity  of 
those  who  have  passed  away.  The  triviality  thus 
becomes  so  important  as  to  lose  all  the  imputations 
implied  by  that  term  and  so  show  a  rational  effort 
to  solve  the  problem,  an  effort  adjusted  to  the  very 
needs  of  the  issue.  This  is  particularly  noticeable 
in  the  communications  of  Dr.  Hodgson.  If  the 
reader  will  simply  study  the  facts  in  this  series  of 
articles  in  a  careful  and  patient  way  he  will  find  that 
there  is  a  characteristic  consciousness  of  this  view  of 
the  matter  which  has  not  so  clearly  characterized 
any  other  communicator,  unless  we  except  George  Pel- 
ham.  The  second  limitation  to  the  accusation  is  the 
fact  that  the  statements  which  are  not  trivial  and 
confused,  very  often,  if  not  generally,  lack  evidential 
character.  All  communications  about  the  other  life, 
about  the  first  experiences  after  death,  about  the  laws 
186 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

of  life  and  action  on  the  "  other  side  "  are  worthless 
as  evidence  of  the  supernormal,  and  the  student  of 
abnormal  psychology  would  consign  us  to  bedlam  if 
we  put  this  sort  of  thing  forward  as  evidence  of  spir- 
its. Consequently  we  have  to  select  the  incidents 
which  have  a  supernormal  character  and  which  cannot 
be  explained  by  abnormal  psychology  in  order  to 
present  any  support  whatever  for  the  existence  of 
spirits.  The  argument  is  that,  having  been  acquired 
from  some  external  source,  the  information,  owing 
to  its  relation  to  the  personality  of  deceased  individ- 
uals, can  best  be  attributed  to  that  source.  The  non- 
evidential  matter  has  to  be  ignored  until  we  are  obliged 
to  recognize  its  unity  with  the  supernormal  incidents. 
This  non-evidential  matter  exists  in  large  quantities 
in  the  Piper  and  similar  records,  but  cannot  be  used 
in  discussions  affecting  the  integrity  of  spiritistic 
theories.  The  assertion,  therefore,  that  the  matter 
is  always  trivial  is  not  exactly  true,  and  the  circum- 
stance gives  us  a  vantage  ground  when  the  time  comes 
to  discuss  other  than  evidential  problems. 

I  agree,  nevertheless,  that  it  is  natural  to  complain 
of  the  triviality  and  confusion  in  the  evidential  mat- 
ter. The  want  of  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  them 
keeps  back  the  acceptance  of  the  spiritistic  hypothe- 
sis from  many  a  scientific  man,  and  hence  I  shall  here 
state  a  view  of  the  phenomena  which  I  think  com- 
pletely removes  the  perplexity.  Whether  it  is  true 
or  not  remains  to  be  shown  in  the  future,  but  it  can 
be  put  forward  as  a  working  hypothesis  and  tested 
by  the  extent  of  its  fitness  thereto. 

The  general  supposition  which,  to  the  mind  of  Dr. 
187 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Hodgson  and  myself,  explains  the  persistent  triviality 
and  confusion  of  the  messages  is  that  the  communi^- 
cating  spirit  at  the  time  of  communicating  (not  neces- 
sarily in  his  normal  state  in  the  spirit  "world),  is  in  a 
sort  of  abnormal  mental  state,  perhaps  resembling 
our  dream  life  or  somnambulic  conditions.  We  can- 
not determine  exactly  what  this  mental  condition  is  at 
present  and  may  never  be  able  to  do  so,  but  it  can 
be  variously  compared  to  dream  life,  somnambulism, 
hypnosis  of  certain  kinds,  trance,  secondary  person- 
ality, subliminal  mental  action,  or  any  of  those  men- 
tal conditions  in  which  there  is  more  or  less  of  disin- 
tegration of  the  normal  memory.  Ordinary  delirium 
has  some  analogies  with  it,  but  the  incidents  are  too 
purposive  and  too  systematic  in  many  cases  to  press 
this  analogy  to  any  general  extent.  But  the  various 
disturbances  of  the  normal  consciousness  or  person- 
ality in  the  living  offer  clear  illustrations  of  the 
psychological  phenomena  which  we  produce  as  evi- 
dence of  spirits  when  these  phenomena  are  supernor- 
mally  produced. 

But  this  hypothesis  does  not  explain  all  the  confu- 
sion involved.  There  is  the  more  or  less  unusual  con- 
dition of  the  medium,  mental  and  physical.  The  me- 
dium through  which  the  messages  purport  to  come  is 
in  a  trance  condition,  and  when  not  a  trance  the  con- 
dition is  one  which  is  not  usual,  and  perhaps  in  the 
broad  sense  may  be  called  abnormal,  though  not  tech- 
nically this  in  any  important  sense.  This  condition 
offers  many  obstacles  to  perfect  transmission  of  mes- 
sages. It  is  illustrated  in  many  cases  of  somnam- 
bulism in  which  the  stream  of  consciousness  goes  on 
188 


CONCLUSION    OP    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

uninhibited,  and  when  this  is  suppressed,  as  it  is  in 
deep  trances,  the  difficulty  is  to  get  systematic  com- 
munications through  it.  Add  to  this  the  frequently 
similar  condition  of  the  communicator,  according  to 
the  hypothesis,  and  we  can  well  imagine  what  causes 
triviality  and  confusion.  The  student  of  abnormal 
psychology  will  recognize  the  applicability  of  this 
view  at  once,  even  though  he  is  not  prepared  to  admit 
that  it  is  a  true  theory. 

There  are  two  aspects  of  such  an  hypothesis  which 
have  to  be  considered.  They  are  its  fitness  or  explan- 
atory character,  and  its  evidential  features.  They 
are  quite  distinct  from  each  other.  The  hypothesis 
might  fit  and  yet  have  no  evidence  that  it  was  a  fact. 
I  think,  however,  that  all  who  are  familiar  with  ab- 
normal mental  phenomena  will  admit  without  special 
contention  that  the  hypothesis  will  explain  the  trivial- 
ity and  confusion  of  the  alleged  messages,  but  they 
will  want  to  know  what  evidence  exists  for  such  a 
view.  It  is  to  this  aspect  of  the  theory  that  we  must 
turn. 

Dr.  Hodgson  had  discussed  this  supposition  in  his 
Report  on  the  Piper  case  in  1898.  It  is  therefore 
not  new,  and  some  incidents  in  his  communications 
seem  to  point  to  the  influence  of  this  view  on  his  mes- 
sages. I  shall  quote  one  passage  from  his  Report  in 
illustration  of  the  hypothesis  and  of  some  of  his  evi- 
dence for  it. 

"  That  persons  '  just  deceased,'  "  says  this  Report, 
(p.  377),  "  should  be  extremely  confused  and  unable 
to  communicate  directly,  or  even  at  all,  seems  per- 
fectly natural  after  the  shock  and  wrench  of  death. 
189 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Thus  in  the  case  of  Hart,  he  was  unable  to  write  the 
second  day  after  Ins  death.  In  another  case  a  friend 
of  mine,  whom  I  may  call  D.,  wrote,  with  what  ap- 
peared to  be  much  difficulty,  his  name  and  the  words, 
'  I  am  all  right  now.  Adieu,'  within  two  or  three  days 
after  his  death.  In  another  case,  F.,  a  near  relative 
of  Madame  Elisa,  was  unable  to  write  on  the  morn- 
ing after  his  death.  On  the  second  day  after,  when 
a  stranger  was  present  with  me  for  a  sitting,  he 
wrote  two  or  three  sentences,  saying,  '  I  am  too  weak 
to  articulate  clearly,'  and  not  many  days  later  he 
wrote  fairly  well  and  clearly,  and  dictated  also  to 
Madame  Elisa,  as  Amanuensis,  an  account  of  his 
feelings  at  finding  himself  in  his  new  surroundings. 
Both  D.  and  F.  became  very  clear  in  a  short  time. 
D.  communicated  later  on  frequently,  both  by  writing 
and  speech,  chiefly  the  latter,  and  showed  always  an 
impressively  marked  and  characteristic  personality. 
Hart,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  become  so  clear  till 
many  months  later.  I  learned  long  afterwards  that 
his  illness  had  been  much  longer  and  more  fundamen- 
tal than  I  had  supposed.  The  continued  confusion  in 
his  case  seemed  explicable  if  taken  in  relation  with 
the  circumstances  of  his  prolonged  illness,  including 
fever,  but  there  was  no  assignable  relation  between  his 
confusion  and  the  state  of  my  own  mind." 

The  allusion  in  this  passage  to  the  effect  of  the 
shock  of  death  recalls  the  passage  quoted  above  (p. 
189)  and  representing  Rector,  the  control,  as  remark- 
ing this  effect  to  me  as  an  apology  for  the  confused 
and  fragmentary  communications  from  Dr.  Hodgson 
190 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  J     THEORIES 

himself.  But  as  Mrs.  Piper  at  least  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  read,  and  perhaps  actually  did  read  the 
whole  of  Dr.  Hodgson's  Report,  we  cannot  speak  of 
the  incident  as  evidential.  It  is  merely  consistent  with 
an  hypothesis  based  on  other  grounds.  But  the  allu- 
sion to  Mr.  Myers  in  this  connection,  as  the  reader 
will  see  by  referring  to  the  passage  quoted,  has  some 
pertinence.  It  is  true  that  Mr.  Myers  never  accom- 
plished by  way  of  communication  what  was  expected 
of  him  and  what  he  himself  expected  before  his  death 
to  do.  The  explanation  of  his  failure  is  perfectly  ra- 
tional, though  not  evidential. 

But  the  proper  evidence  for  this  dream  life  or  semi- 
trance  and  somnambulic  condition  will  be  found  in  in- 
cidents which  also  contain  supernormal  facts.  I  quote 
one  of  remarkable  interest.  A  man  who  had  had  sit- 
tings with  Mrs.  Piper  before  his  death,  some  time 
after  his  decease,  which  took  place  in  Paris,  turned  up 
as  a  communicator  without  Mrs.  Piper  having  known 
of  his  death.  He  had  always  been  perplexed  by  the 
confusion  and  fragmentary  nature  of  the  messages  of 
his  deceased  friend  George  Pelham.  When  he  him- 
self became  a  communicator  it  was  some  time  before 
he  was  able  to  communicate  clearly.  When  he  could 
communicate  he  delivered  the  following  message  to 
Dr.  Hodgson: 

"  What  in  the  world  is  the  reason  you  never  call  for 
me?  I  am  not  sleeping.  I  wish  to  help  you  in  iden- 
tifying myself.     I  am  a  good  deal  better  now. 

(You  were  confused  at  first.) 

Very,  but  I  did  not  really  understand  how  confused 
191 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

I  was.  I  am  more  so  when  I  try  to  speak  to  you. 
I  understand  now  why  George  spelled  his  words  to 
me." 

The  allusion  to  George  Pelham's  spelling  out  his 
words  is  an  evidential  incident,  as  it  was  verifiable  and 
recognizes  after  death  the  explanation  of  confusions 
which  he  could  not  understand  while  living.  A  sim- 
ilar though  not  evidential  passage  came  from  this 
George  Pelham  himself.  It  represents  the  point  of 
view  which  I  am  advancing  to  account  for  the  curious 
nature  of  the  messages,  and  was  perhaps  the  commu- 
nication which  suggested  the  theory  to  Dr.  Hodgson. 
I  quote  it  from  the  latter's  Report. 

"  Remember  we  have  and  always  shall  have  our 
friends  in  the  dream  life,  i.  e.,  your  life  so  to  speak, 
which  will  attract  us  for  ever  and  ever,  and  so  long  as 
we  have  any  friends  sleeping  in  the  material  world; 
—  you  to  us  are  more  like  as  we  understand  sleep,  you 
look  shut  up  as  one  in  prison,  and  in  order  for  us  to 
get  into  communication  with  you,  we  have  to  enter  into 
your  sphere,  as  one  like  yourself  asleep.  This  is  just 
why  we  make  mistakes  as  you  call  them,  or  get  con- 
fused and  muddled,  so  to  put  it  H." 

At  this  point  Dr.  Hodgson  read  over  the  automatic 
writing  to  indicate  that  he  had  gotten  the  message 
and  how  he  understood  it.  The  communications  then 
went  on. 

"  Your  thoughts  do  grasp  mine.  Well  now  you 
have  just  what  I  have  been  wanting  to  come  and 
make  clear  to  you,  H.,  old  fellow. 

(It  is  quite  clear.) 

Yes,  you  see  I  am  more  awake  than  asleep,  yet  I 
192 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

cannot  come  just  as  I  am  in  reality,  independently  of 
the  medium's  light. 

(You  come  much  better  than  the  others.)  Yes,  be- 
cause I  am  a  little  nearer  and  not  less  intelligent  than 
some  others  here." 

At  one  of  Dr.  Hodgson's  later  sittings  the  same 
communicator,  George  Pelham,  used  the  word  "  pris- 
oned "  in  a  passage  in  which  "  prisoning "  was  in 
Dr.  Hodgson's  view  the  more  correct  term,  and  he 
suggested  the  correction.  George  Pelham  broke  out 
with  the  reply :  — 

"  See  here,  H.,  *  Don't  view  me  with  a  critic's  eye, 
but  pass  my  imperfections  by.'  Of  course  I  know  all 
that  as  well  as  anybody  on  your  sphere.  I  tell  you, 
old  fellow,  it  don't  do  to  pick  [out]  all  these  little 
errors  too  much  when  they  amount  to  nothing  in  one 
way.  You  have  light  enough  and  brain  enough  I 
know  to  understand  my  explanations  of  being  shut 
up  in  this  body  [that  of  the  medium]  dreaming  as  it 
were  and  trying  to  help  on  science." 

The  possibility  of  all  this  every  reader  must  ad- 
mit, when  he  has  once  felt  the  force  of  the  supernor- 
mal matter  in  favor  of  the  spiritistic  theory,  though 
he  will  rightly  hold  that  it  is  not  evidence  of  any  con- 
clusive kind.  But  it  hangs  together  well  with  the 
character  of  the  messages  in  all  cases,  and  when  we 
recall  our  own  power  to  tell  something  of  the  mental 
status  of  a  man  who  is  talking  to  us  or  whose  book 
we  are  reading  we  may  well  admit  that  the  confused 
and  fragmentary  nature  of  the  messages  suggest  and 
confirm  the  view  taken  in  these  communications. 

A  certain  gentleman  was  a  member  of  the  Board 
193 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  Trustees  of  the  American  Institute  for  Scientific 
Research  and  Dr.  Hodgson  knew  both  the  man  and 
this  fact  of  his  membership.  This  gentleman  re- 
signed from  the  Board  some  months  after  the  death 
of  Dr.  Hodgson,  a  fact  which  was  most  probably  not 
known  to  Mrs.  Piper.  In  one  of  my  sittings  the  fol- 
lowing occurred: 

"  Is  X.  with  you? 

(No,  he  resigned.) 

What  for?     I  thought  so. 

(Well,  Hodgson,  it  is  best  not  to  say  publicly.) 

I  am  not  public,  am  I? 

(Well,  it  would  stand  in  my  record,  Hodgson.) 

Oh,  of  course.     I  understand." 

Now  the  interest  of  this  incident  lies  in  this  simple 
fact.  Dr.  Hodgson  was  familiar  for  eighteen  years 
with  the  record  of  Mrs.  Piper's  sittings,  and  for  ten 
years  with  the  careful  record  of  what  was  done  in 
both  speech  and  writing.  Here  he  is  apparently 
wholly  unaware  of  what  is  going  on  in  the  commu- 
nications. His  mental  condition  has  apparently  made 
him  oblivious  to  the  fact  of  record,  or  what  the  trance 
personalities  or  controls  call  "  registering "  a  mes- 
sage. Amnesia  had  come  on  as  an  accident  or  con- 
comitant of  the  condition  necessary  for  communicat- 
ing, at  least  for  all  that  affected  the  unnecessary  parts 
of  his  communications.  The  control  of  the  stream 
of  consciousness  is  not  so  perfect  as  in  the  earthly 
life.  The  reasons  for  this  cannot  be  made  clear  here, 
but  the  psychiatrist  will  understand  it  from  his  knowl- 
edge of  uninhibited  mental  processes. 
194 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  this  is  Rector's 
statements  of  the  reason  for  the  difficulties  of  commu- 
nicating, as  the  reader  may  have  noticed  above  (p. 
189).  The  passage,  of  course,  is  not  evidential,  but 
when  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  has  been  rendered  ra- 
tional by  evidential  matter  it  is  not  unreasonable  to 
examine  statements  of  this  kind  with  patience  and  to 
give  them  the  status  of  a  working  hypothesis  to 
ascertain  whether  it  may  not  be  confirmed  by  other 
characteristics  of  the  phenomena. 

I  quote  some  statements  communicated  at  the  sitting 
of  February  27th,  1906.  After  a  question  that  I 
had  asked  regarding  a  certain  word  that  would  bear 
on  his  identity,  Dr.  Hodgson  alluded  to  the  danger  of 
"  making  a  botch "  of  his  messages  and  broke  out 
with  the  statement :  "  It  is  so  suffocating  here.  I 
can  appreciate  their  difficulties  better  than  ever  be- 
fore." Here  he  was  intimating  ideas  which  he  held 
as  to  the  difficulty  of  communicating  before  he  him- 
self passed  away,  and  he  had  often  compared  the  in- 
fluence of  the  conditions  to  that  of  mephitic  gases,  and 
we  know  what  effect  they  have  on  the  integrity  of 
consciousness.  A  few  minutes  after  the  deliverance  of 
this  statement,  and  with  it  in  mind,  I  asked  if  we  had 
conjectured  the  difficulties  fairly  well.  The  reply 
was :  "  We  did  surprisingly  well.  I  was  surprised 
enough,"  and  then  at  once  passed  to  communications 
about  his  own  handwriting  which  had  often  been  illeg- 
ible to  me  when  he  was  living.  The  admission  here 
of  suffocation  points  to  the  hypothesis  which  I  have 
advanced,  though  in  no  way  proving  it,  and  his  man- 
195 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ner  of  admitting  the  correctness  of  our  view  regard- 
ing the  difficulties  is  a  fact  consistent  with  the 
hypothesis. 

We  have  only  to  study  dreams  and  deliria  in  order 
to  understand  the  influences  which  tend  to  produce  con- 
fusion and  fragmentary  messages.  If  accidents  and 
shocks  in  life  which  are  less  violent  than  death  disturb 
the  memory,  as  we  know  they  do,  the  student  of  ab- 
normal psychology,  being  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
phenomena  in  numerous  cases,  would  expect  that  so 
violent  a  change  as  death  would  disturb  memory  and 
reproduction  still  more  seriously.  Add  to  this  the 
mind's  freedom  from  the  body  with  all  the  physiolog- 
ical inhibitions  cut  off,  and  we  might  well  expect  less 
control  of  the  processes  which  recall  the  past  in  the 
proper  way  for  illustrating  one's  identity.  This  dis- 
turbance might  not  last  indefinitely.  The  individual 
might  fully  recover  from  it  in  a  normal  spiritual  life, 
though  the  time  for  this  recovery  might  vary  with 
individuals  and  with  the  circumstances  of  their  death. 
But  the  recovery  of  a  normal  mental  balance  in  the 
proper  ethereal  environment  on  the  "  other  side " 
would  not  of  itself  be  a  complete  guarantee  of  its 
retention  when  coming  into  terrestrial  and  material 
conditions  to  communicate.  We  may  well  suppose  it 
possible  that  this  "  coming  back  "  produces  an  effect 
similar  to  the  amnesia  which  so  often  accompanies  a 
shock  or  sudden  interference  with  the  normal  stream 
of  consciousness.  The  effect  seems  to  be  the  same 
as  that  of  certain  kinds  of  dissociation  which  are  now 
being  studied  by  the  student  of  abnormal  psychology, 
and  this  is  the  disturbance  of  memory  which  makes 
196 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

it  difficult  or  impossible  to  recall  in  one  mental  state 
the  events  which  have  been  experienced  in  another. 

For  at  least  superficial  indications  in  the  records 
that  this  is  the  case  I  shall  simply  repeat  my  reference 
to  the  first  part  of  this  article  in  which  I  quote  at 
such  length  the  fragmentary  and  confused  messages 
purporting  to  come  from  Dr.  Hodgson.  I  need  not 
requote  them  here.  They  at  least  apparently  illus- 
trate in  a  clear  manner  the  point  I  am  making. 

Nor  do  I  rely  upon  the  Piper  case  alone  for  evi- 
dence of  the  conditions  here  conjectured.  I  have  had 
similar  statements  made  through  two  other  private 
mediums,  whom  I  have  quoted  in  this  series  of  articles. 
In  some  cases  the  language  is  identical  with  that  used 
through  Mrs.  Piper,  though  its  use  in  Mrs.  Piper  was 
not  known  by  the  other  person  through  whom  it  came. 

One  good  illustration  of  this  abnormal  mental  con- 
dition on  the  part  of  communicators  is  found  in  an 
incident  told  me  by  Dr.  Hodgson  before  his  death  and 
which  I  have  mentioned  elsewhere  in  another  periodi- 
cal. It  was  the  incident  of  a  communicator  telling 
through  Mrs.  Piper  a  circumstance  which  he  said  had 
represented  some  act  of  his  life.  But  inquiry  showed 
that  no  such  act  had  been  performed  by  him  when 
living.  But  it  turned  out  that  he  had  made  the  same 
statement  in  the  delirium  of  death.  It  is  especially 
noticeable  in  certain  forms  of  communication  of  the 
"  possession  "  type  that  the  last  scenes  of  the  deceased 
are  acted  over  again  in  their  first  attempts  to  control 
or  communicate.  The  mental  confusion  relevant  to 
the  death  of  my  father  was  apparent  in  his  first  at- 
tempt to  communicate  through  Mrs.  Piper,  and  when 
197 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

I  recalled  this  period  of  his  dying  experience  this  con- 
fusion was  repeated  in  a  remarkable  manner  with 
several  evidential  features  in  the  messages.  Twice 
an  uncle  lost  the  sense  of  personal  identity  in  the  at- 
tempt to  communicate.  His  communications  were  in 
fact  so  confused  that  it  was  two  years  before  he  be- 
came at  all  clear  in  his  efforts.  He  had  died  as  the 
result  of  a  sudden  accident.  Once  my  father,  after 
mentioning  the  illness  of  my  living  sister  and  her 
name,  lost  his  personal  identity  long  enough  to  con- 
fuse incidents  of  himself  and  his  earthly  life  with 
those  that  applied  to  my  sister  and  not  to  himself. 
The  interesting  feature  of  the  incident  was  that,  hav- 
ing failed  to  complete  his  messages  a  few  minutes  pre- 
viously, when  he  came  back  the  second  time  to  try  it 
again,  Rector,  the  control,  warned  me  that  he  was  a 
little  confused,  but  that  what  he  wanted  to  tell  me 
certainly  referred  to  my  sister  Lida.  Then  came  the 
message  claiming  experiences  for  himself  when  liv- 
ing that  were  verifiable  as  my  sister's.  On  any  theory 
of  the  facts  a  confused  state  of  mind  is  the  only  ex- 
planation of  them,  and  when  associated  with  incidents 
of  a  supernormal  and  evidential  character  they  afford 
reasonable  attestation  of  the  hypothesis  here  sug- 
gested. 

I  shall  give  one  long  and  complicated  instance  of 
this  confusion  in  an  incident  having  great  evidential 
value  and  yet  showing  remarkable  confusion  involving 
apparently  the  loss  of  the  sense  of  personal  identity 
and  the  correction  of  the  error  in  the  first  allusion 
to  the  incidents. 

198 


CONCLUSION   of  experiments;   theories 

At  the  sitting  of  June  6th,  1899,  (Proceedings, 
Vol.  XVI,  pp.  469-470),  I  thought  I  would  test  the 
telepathic  theory  by  asking  my  father  incidents  that 
had  occurred  before  I  was  born  and  that  my  two 
aunts,  then  living,  would  know.  I  made  this  request 
and  was  told  at  once  that  this  would  not  be  so  difficult 
a  thing  to  do.  In  a  few  moments  several  things  were 
communicated,  one  of  which  was  verifiable  and  one 
of  which  came  within  my  memory  as  an  incident  told 
me,  not  as  remembered  personally.  Then  one  of  the 
aunts  was  mentioned  by  name,  Eliza,  and  an  incident 
told  which  I  could  not  verify.  Then  the  communi- 
cator at  once  broke  out  into  the  following  clear  state- 
ment, purporting  to  come  from  my  father :  — 

"  I  have  something  better.  Ask  her  if  she  recalls 
the  evening  when  we  broke  the  wheel  to  the  wagon 
and  who  tried  to  cover  it  up  so  it  would  not  leak  out, 
so  to  speak.  I  remember  it  as  if  it  happened  yester- 
day, and  she  will  remember  it  too." 

When  interrogated  as  to  the  truth  of  this  my  aunt 
said  that  no  such  accident  had  ever  occurred  in  the 
life  of  my  father  and  herself.  The  consequence  was 
that  in  my  Report  on  the  Piper  case,  published  in 
1901,  I  had  to  say  that  the  incident  was  wholly  false 
or  unverifiable.  No  ascertainable  meaning  was  then 
to  be  obtained  with  reference  to  its  real  pertinence. 

On  February  5th,  1900,  at  another  sitting  this  aunt 
was  again  spontaneously  mentioned  by  my  father  pur- 
porting to  communicate  and  I  made  some  statement 
about  my  difficulty  in  getting  verification  for  some  of 
the  incidents  he  had  told  of  their  early  life,  telling 
199 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

him  of  her  dislike  and  opposition  to  the  whole  sub- 
ject. There  came  the  following  response  through  the 
automatic  writing  of  Mrs.  Piper :  — 

"  Oh,  I  understand.  Of  course,  I  see  clearly. 
Well,  tell  her  I  do  not  intend  to  say  anything  which 
would  be  distasteful  to  her,  but  if  she  will  only  help 
me  in  my  recollections  of  our  childhood  days  it  will 
be  doing  nothing  but  right,  and  it  will  help  to  prove 
my  true  existence  to  you.  James,  I  am  your  father, 
and  there  is  no  gainsaying  it. 

What  I  would  now  ask  is  that  Eliza  should  recall 
the  drive  home  and  —  let  me  see  a  moment  —  I  am 
sure  .  .  .  but  it  was  one  of  shafts,  but  the  wagon 
broke,  some  part  of  it,  and  we  tied  it  with  a  cord. 
I  remember  this  very  well.  Do  you  remember  old 
Tom?" 

Now  Tom  was  the  name  of  a  horse  in  my  time  and 
long  after  the  childhood  of  my  aunt  Eliza,  and  he  died 
somewhere  about  1880.  He  had  no  connection  with 
any  drive  that  my  father  could  have  taken  before  I 
was  born.  The  reader,  however,  will  remark  the 
abrupt  play  of  memory  in  this  matter,  the  exhibition 
of  uninhibited  association  which  is  characteristic  of  a 
dream-like  state  of  consciousness. 

But  when  I  asked  my  aunt  Eliza  about  the  accident 
it  was  again  denied  as  never  having  occurred  in  her 
life  with  my  father,  nor  with  any  one  else  so  far  as 
she  knew.     I  had,  therefore,  to  declare  this  false. 

On  June  3rd,  1902,  I  had  another  sitting  with  Mrs. 

Piper,  and  my  uncle,  who  had  been  such  a  confused 

communicator  in  my  earlier  experiments,  turned  up, 

so  to  speak.     He  began  some  confused  messages  and 

200 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

I  determined  to  ask  a  test  question  of  his  identity. 
But  before  continuing  the  statements  of  the  record 
I  should  detail  an  incident  that  occurred  with  this 
uncle  and  myself  the  day  after  my  father's  death. 
He  had  married  this  aunt  Eliza,  my  father's  sister. 

My  father  died  on  Saturday.  On  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing, while  my  father  was  lying  a  corpse  in  this 
uncle's  house,  a  telegram  came  from  Chicago  which 
had  to  be  delivered  in  the  country.  My  uncle  and  I 
took  a  buggy  and  went  into  the  country  to  deliver  the 
telegram.  While  passing  a  negro  boy  with  a  goat 
and  wagon  the  horse  shied,  turned  the  buggy  over, 
dragged  it  over  both  of  us  —  my  uncle  holding  on  to 
the  lines  —  injured  the  wheels,  broke  the  shaft  and 
the  harness,  and  we  had  to  tie  them  up  with  straps 
and  strings.  When  we  got  home  it  was  dusk,  and 
we  resolved  to  say  nothing  about  the  accident  to 
any  one  in  the  house.  But  both  of  us  were  so  badly 
injured  that  we  could  not  conceal  it  longer  than  the 
next  morning,  that  of  the  funeral.  I  was  six  months 
getting  over  the  effects  and  my  uncle  perhaps  as  long. 

When  my  uncle  came  to  communicate  on  this  occa- 
sion of  June  3rd,  1902,  I  had  these  incidents  in  mind 
when  I  resolved  to  ask  my  test  question.  I  now 
quote  the  record. 

"  (You  and  I  took  something  together,  you  remem- 
ber, just  after  father  passed  out.) 

You  are  thinking  of  that  ride.  I  guess  I  do  not 
forget  it.  My  head  is  troublesome  in  thinking.  I 
hope  to  be  clearer  soon.     This  is  my  second  attempt. 

(You  can  tell  what  happened  in  that  ride  when  you 
can  make  it  clear.) 

201 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

I  will.  Do  you  remember  a  stone  we  put  together. 
Not  quite  right.  I'll  see  you  again.  Farewell.  He 
has  gone  out  to  think."  [Last  remark  by  Rector  in 
explanation  of  the  confusion.] 

The  next  day  this  uncle  returned  to  the  task  and 
began  with  incidents  that  were  not  verifiable  in  my 
experience  and  that  were  as  confused  and  erroneous 
as  that  which  I  have  been  quoting.  I  repeated  my 
question  to  bring  him  back  to  the  subject. 

"  (Please  to  tell  me  something  about  that  ride  just 
after  father  passed  out. ) 

Your  father  told  you  about  it  before,  but  had  it 
on  his  mind,  Eliza. 

(If  you  can  tell  it,  please  to  do  so.) 

Do  you  remember  the  stone  we  put  there. 
(Where?)     At  the  grave. 

(Whose  grave?)  Your  father's.  You  mean  this 
ride.      (No.) 

I  think  we  are  thinking  of  different  things.  You 
don't  mean  that  Sunday  afternoon,  do  you  ? 

(Yes,  that's  right.) 

Yes,  I  remember  well  the  breakdown,  etc." 

The  communicator  then  went  on  in  the  most  frag- 
mentary way  and  alluded  to  breaking  the  harness,  the 
wheel,  said  we  had  a  red  horse  and  that  it  had  been 
frightened  by  a  dog  [it  was  a  goat] ,  that  we  tied  the 
broken  harness  with  a  string  and  got  home  late  in 
the  evening,  remarking:  "  Oh,  I  am  your  uncle  all 
right." 

It  would  take  up  too  much  space  to  give  the  de- 
tailed account  which  is  very  confused.     But  the  com- 
municator specified  the  main  events  in  the  incident  of 
202 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

our  experience  at  the  time  mentioned.  They  were 
all  substantially  correct,  except  the  reference  to  the 
dog,  most  of  them  exactly  correct. 

The  most  important  thing  to  remember  about  this 
set  of  incidents  is  that  they  correct  an  error  in  my 
original  Report  and  do  it  in  a  way  to  indicate  that 
the  first  attempt  was  associated  with  an  unusual  mental 
state  on  the  part  of  the  communicator.  Of  course, 
the  whole  incident  depends  for  its  value  on  the  exclu- 
sion of  fraud  from  its  character,  and  as  we  assume 
that  this  has  been  done  we  do  not  take  that  hypothesis 
into  account  here  in  the  discussion.  Accepting  the 
exclusion  of  fraud  the  incidents  represent  one  of  the 
best  evidential  cases  that  I  know  for  the  exclusion  of 
telepathy  from  their  explanation.  The  event,  too,  ex- 
plains the  meaning  of  the  confused  statements  by  my 
father.  My  uncle,  if  I  may  state  the  matter  con- 
structively in  regard  to  the  "  other  side,"  had  given 
the  incident  to  my  father  who  was  a  better  communi- 
cator, thinking  that  it  would  identify  him  to  me  and 
his  wife,  my  father's  sister  Eliza.  But  in  his  mental 
confusion  my  father  gave  as  an  incident  in  his  own 
life  before  I  was  born  one  that  had  occurred  with  me 
and  his  brother-in-law  the  day  after  his  own  death, 
and  this  error  is  corrected  by  my  uncle  long  after- 
ward and  amidst  nearly  as  much  mental  confusion  as 
that  in  which  the  original  error  was  committed.  There 
is  here  more  or  less  evidence  of  the  loss  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  personal  identity,  a  condition  quite 
closely  resembling  that  of  delirium,  and  that  certainly 
characterizes  most  of  our  dreams.  Only  the  relation 
of  the  incidents  is  wanting  in  the  first  mention  of  it 
203 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

to  indicate  its  meaning  and  that  relation  is  concealed 
by  the  failure  to  indicate  that  the  experience  was  that 
of  someone  else  than  the  narrator. 

What  first  strikes  one  in  the  incident  is  the  absurd- 
ity of  explaining  it  by  any  form  of  telepathy,  assum- 
ing that  the  facts  guarantee  the  existence  of  super- 
normal information,  and  with  the  exclusion  of  that 
hypothesis  we  have  no  alternative  to  the  admission  of 
the  spiritistic  with  its  accompaniment,  in  this  instance, 
of  some  other  difficulty  than  mediumistic  obstacles  to 
the  transmission  of  the  message.     No  doubt  there  are 
hindrances  to  clear  communications  in  the  physical  and 
mental  conditions  of  the  medium.     But  in  this  in- 
stance the  claim,  implied  in  the  message  as  I  received 
it  from  my  father,  that  the  incidents  were  personal 
experiences  associated  with  his  life  before  I  was  bora 
and  the  abruptness  of  their  introduction  in  connection 
with  events  with  which  they  were  not  historically  asso- 
ciated,  indicates  a  phenomenon  exactly   like   dreams 
and  deliria,  recognizable  by  any  one  who  has  studied 
psychology.     Assuming  then  that  this  instance,  with 
others,  indicates  some  unnatural  mental  state  as  a  con- 
dition  of   communicating,   at  least  in   "  possession " 
types  of  mediumship,  we  have  a  perfectly  rational  ex- 
planation of  the  persistent  triviality  and  confusion  in 
the  messages.     In  fact  the  detailed  records  of  such 
phenomena  have  only  to  be  patiently  studied  in  order 
to  give  the  phenomena  that  intelligibility  and  ration- 
ality as  spiritistic  communications  which  cannot  be  ap- 
preciated on  any  other  hypothesis,  and  this  because  the 
nature  and  limitations  of  the  communications  are  such 
as  we  might  expect  from  human  personality  laboring 
204 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS;    THEORIES 

under  difficulties  which  are  not  so  apparent  on  other 
theories,  especially  as  the  assumption  of  telepathy 
must  face  the  contradiction  between  its  immense  pow- 
ers to  account  for  the  true  facts  and  its  limitations  in 
the  errors. 

One  incident  in  the  communications  by  George  Pel- 
ham  about  Dr.  Hodgson  bears  on  the  main  point. 
There  is  evidence  —  too  complicated  to  detail  in  this 
chapter  —  that  the  communicator  is  less  disturbed 
mentally  ( and  perhaps  not  at  all  after  a  certain  period 
of  time)  in  his  normal  state  on  the  "  other  side  "  than 
when  communicating.  I  quoted  the  instance  (p.  128) 
in  which  George  Pelham  said  regarding  Dr.  Hodgson, 
that  "  normally  he  is  all  right,  but  when  he  comes 
into  our  wretched  atmosphere  he  goes  all  to  pieces." 
If  we  take  the  various  records  in  my  possession  repre- 
senting apparent  attempts  on  Dr.  Hodgson's  part  to 
communicate  through  other  mediums  than  Mrs.  Piper 
it  is  clear  that  this  statement  of  George  Pelham  is 
perfectly  true,  and  that  he  does  better  through  Mrs. 
Piper  than  elsewhere,  though  he  has  more  difficulty 
even  there  than  many  other  communicators. 

But  instead  of  producing  evidence  of  this  sort 
which  many  may  question  altogether,  we  may  look  at 
the  situation  in  another  way.  We  may  concede  for 
the  sake  of  argument  that  all  this  is  not  proof,  though 
some  of  the  incidents  containing  supernormal  infor- 
mation and  characteristics  of  mental  confusion  at 
the  same  time  can  hardly  be  refused  evidential  value 
in  reference  to  the  claim  here  made.  But  not  to  in- 
sist on  this  way  of  discussing  the  hypothesis,  there  is 
one  method  that  the  scientific  man  cannot  dispute. 
205 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

This  is  to  present  the  case  in  the  light  of  a  working 
hypothesis.  This  means  that  we  shall  simply  ask  if 
the  hypothesis  does  not  actually  fit  the  facts  and  then 
try  its  application  to  see  if  it  will  remain  consistent 
with  them  throughout.  That  is  to  say  we  may  say 
to  ourselves,  "  Let  us  see  if  it  will  actually  explain 
the  perplexities  which  are  suggested  by  all  this  trivial- 
ity and  confusion."  If  we  find  the  hypothesis  fitting 
the  facts  we  recognize  that  it  is  the  correct  one  to  en- 
tertain until  we  find  reason  to  reject  it. 

Now  if  intelligent  people  —  and  this  means  those 
who  are  familiar  with  secondary  personality,  with 
dream  states  and  deliria,  and  with  abnormal 
psychology  generally  —  will  only  imagine  the  pos- 
sibility of  what  is  here  supposed  and  then  study  the 
detailed  records  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  whether 
it  fits  enough  of  the  facts  to  explain  their  perplexities 
on  the  points  mentioned,  I  am  confident  that  they 
will  find  that  the  whole  subject  clears  up,  and  its  per- 
plexities yield  to  a  perfectly  simple  conception  of  their 
cause,  though  they  will  find  the  same  difficulties  in  ex- 
plaining certain  specific  details  that  any  hypothesis 
has  to  meet. 

I  have  occupied  attention  regarding  the  conditions 
affecting  the  communicator  in  the  process  of  sending 
messages  from  a  transcendental  world.  These  were 
supposed  to  account  for  the  confusion  and  triviality 
of  the  messages.  I  shall  say,  however,  that  the  dream- 
like trance  of  the  communicator  is  not  the  only  cause 
of  the  characteristics  in  the  messages  that  have  so 
long  given  rise  to  objections  against  the  spiritistic 
hypothesis.  There  is  another  and  just  as  important 
206 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS;     THEORIES 

a  source  of  the  confusion  and  possibly  of  the  error  in 
the  communications.  This  is  the  mental  condition 
of  the  medium.  That  this  should  in  some  way  affect 
the  communications  would,  perhaps,  be  admitted  with- 
out dispute  by  any  one  who  was  familiar  with 
psychology,  especially  of  the  abnormal  type.  But 
the  point  to  be  decided  would  be  that  which  regards 
the  nature  of  that  influence  and  in  what  special  respect 
the  communications  are  affected  by  that  mental  condi- 
tion. In  general  the  simple  answer  to  this  query 
would  be  that  it  would  most  naturally  vary  with  the 
condition  in  which  the  medium  was  at  the  time. 

We  must  remember  that  the  idea  of  a  trance  is  not 
a  fixed  and  clear  one.  Trance  is  but  a  name  for  an 
exceedingly  fluctuating  condition  and  that  is  not  ex- 
actly the  same  in  different  mediums.  The  effect  of 
this  condition  on  messages  intromitted  into  the 
psychic's  mind  will  vary  with  the  nature  of  that 
trance.  If  the  medium  remains  normally  conscious 
the  first  question  to  be  raised  would  be  whether  the 
cleavage  between  the  supraliminal  or  ordinary  normal 
consciousness  and  the  subliminal  or  subconscious  men- 
tal activities  is  great  enough  to  exclude  the  normal 
interpreting  and  other  processes  from  modifying  the 
thoughts  introduced  into  the  mind  from  the  outside. 
In  some  cases  the  messages  enter  the  normal  con- 
sciousness either  as  a  condition  of  their  delivery  or  as 
an  incident  of  it.  In  others  they  are  delivered  with- 
out any  apparent  knowledge  of  their  coming  or  of 
their  nature.  On  the  other  hand  if  the  supraliminal 
consciousness  is  suspended  the  subconscious  action  of 
the  mind  may  reproduce  all  the  influences  of  the  nor- 
207 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

mal  mind  except  its  memory  of  their  occurrence  or  of 
the  messages.  Only  when  the  trance  extends  to  the 
subconscious  processes  can  we  expect  the  removal  of 
the  interpreting  action  of  the  mind  through  which 
messages  otherwise  come.  Even  then  we  generally 
or  always  find  the  existence  of  limitations  determined 
by  the  habits  and  experience  of  the  medium,  such  as 
the  spelling,  style  of  writing,  and  even  the  use  of 
terms.  I  have  often  seen  the  same  message  through 
different  mediums  expressed  in  different  terms  char- 
acterized by  the  difference  of  mental  habits  in  the 
cases.  Thus  a  medium  who  is  in  the  habit  of  using  the 
word  "  Sunday  "  in  her  normal  life  will  most  likely 
employ  this  term  —  not  always,  as  much  depends  on 
the  depth  of  the  trance  —  while  one  used  to  the  term 
"  Sabbath  "  may  employ  that  for  the  same  message. 
I  know  one  that  was  accustomed  to  spell  the  word 
"  coughs  "  thus,  "  caughts  "  in  her  normal  state,  and 
it  was  so  spelled  in  the  trance,  though  the  communi- 
cator would  never  have  so  spelled  it,  and  in  this  case 
there  were  many  supernormal  incidents  accompanying 
the  language  and  automatic  writing  through  which 
they  came.  In  another  the  term  "  agoing,"  which 
was  the  natural  expression  of  the  medium's  normal 
life  for  the  idea  conveyed,  was  given  in  the  same  sen- 
tence which  had  "  going  "  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Piper. 
In  still  another  the  automatic  writing  would  produce 
one  word  and  the  normal  consciousness  would  think 
of  another  and  synonymous  or  similar  word. 

All  these  when  they  occur  show  unmistakable  in- 
fluences from  the  mind  of  the  medium  upon  messages 
intromitted  into  it.     All  that  remains  after  the  ad- 
208 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS;    THEORIES 

mission  of  the  fact  of  this  influence  is  the  determina- 
tion of  the  extent  of  it  by  the  study  of  actual  and  con- 
crete instances.  I  shall  devote  a  little  time  to  the 
study  of  the  phenomena  of  Mrs.  Verrall  which  were 
published  in  the  last  Report  of  the  English  Society. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  important  documents  in  this  re- 
spect that  has  been  published  by  the  Society,  though 
it  does  not  give  as  much  of  the  detailed  record  as  is 
desirable. 

The  important  fact  to  remember  is  that  Mrs.  Ver- 
rall does  not  go  into  a  trance,  but  remains  normally 
conscious  when  the  automatic  writing  is  done.  It  is 
also  just  as  important  to  remember  that  we  do  not 
require  to  hold  any  special  theory  of  interpretation 
regarding  the  phenomena  occurring  in  her  case.  We 
may  accept  telepathy  as  an  adequate  explanation  if 
we  so  prefer,  it  will  not  alter  the  view  which  I  here 
mean  to  take  regarding  the  influences  affecting  the 
"  messages  "  recorded.  It  is  apparently  certain,  and 
one  would  hardly  be  wrong  in  saying  that  it  was 
demonstrated,  that  supernormal  connection  between 
two  minds  occurred  in  the  various  cases  represented  in 
that  report,  with  important  indications  of  failure,  such 
as  would  most  naturally  occur  in  instances  involving 
the  modification  of  extraneously  introduced  informa- 
tion. In  what  I  wish  to  quote,  therefore,  from  that 
report  illustrative  of  subjective  influences  on  mes- 
sages, I  do  not  assume  the  spiritistic  interpretation 
of  the  incidents.  I  need  not  go  farther  than  telep- 
athy between  the  living  to  account  for  the  super- 
normal in  the  phenomena.  What  is  undoubted  in  the 
matter  is  the  difficulty  of  getting  messages  through 
209 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

without  disturbing  their  integrity  by  the  various  sub- 
conscious agencies  which  affect  all  mental  action,  even 
of  the  normal  and  supraliminal  consciousness. 

Mrs.  Verrall  is  a  teacher  of  the  classical  languages 
and  many  of  her  automatic  writings  appear  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  even  when  the  "  message "  is  sent  in 
English.  It  seems  that  her  mental  habits  have  some- 
thing to  do,  as  in  the  other  instances  quoted,  with  the 
form  in  which  the  "  messages  "  appear.  It  matters 
not  whether  we  interpret  the  phenomena  as  telepathic 
or  spiritistic,  the  latter  hypothesis  not  being  so  plaus- 
ible as  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Piper  and  others.  But 
theories  aside,  it  is  clear  that  the  form  of  expression 
exhibits  the  influence  of  her  own  mind  whatever  its 
original  source. 

At  a  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper  a  certain  communica- 
tor claimed  to  have  been  able  to  impress  Mrs.  Verrall's 
daughter  with  the  phantasm  of  a  hand  and  a  book. 
Dr.  Hodgson  suggested  that  he  get  her  to  see  his  hand 
holding  a  spear.  Mrs.  Piper  was  near  Boston  and 
Mrs.  Verrall  in  England.  It  seems  that  the  attempts, 
however,  to  impress  the  daughter  were  failures.  One 
day  soon  after  Mrs.  Verrall,  amid  seven  Greek  words 
and  six  Latin  words  wrote  the  Greek  word  Sphairas 
and  the  Latin  word  volatile  ferrum,  their  English 
equivalents  being  "  Spheres  "  and  "  Spear."  Now 
the  communicator,  when  the  message  in  Boston  was 
given  as  a  spear,  at  first  understood  it  to  be  "  sphere  " 
and  had  to  have  it  corrected.  The  same  mistake  is 
made,  the  reader  will  remark,  in  the  delivery  of  it  in 
England.  But  the  English  "  spear  "  comes  out  in 
Latin  equivalents.  Whatever  the  source  of  the  mes- 
210 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

sage  to  Mrs.  Verrall  it  is  apparent  that  her  subcon- 
scious mental  action  is  involved  in  the  result.  The 
evidence  for  the  supernormal  in  the  case  is  consider- 
able and  the  limitations  of  its  delivery  are  quite  ap- 
parent. Besides,  the  partial  mistake  suggests  that 
the  agent  delivering  the  message  was  in  a  state  of 
secondary  personality  subject  to  just  the  kind  of 
mental  action  which  that  conception  implies.  That 
is,  the  trance  of  the  communicator,  when  he  commu- 
nicates in  England,  like  two  separate  hypnotic  states, 
is  continuous  with  that  in  America.  The  memory 
nexus  is  with  the  condition  in  which  the  message  to  be 
taken  to  England  was  received.  Consequently  we 
have  in  the  incident  at  least  a  possible  illustration  of 
abnormal  mental  conditions  in  the  communicator  and 
subconscious  influences  in  the  medium  through  whom 
the  message  has  to  be  delivered. 

Another  interesting  illustration  of  subconscious 
agencies  in  the  alleged  messages  is  an  experiment 
made  between  Mrs.  Verrall  and  Mrs.  Forbes.  The 
two  ladies  agreed  to  try  communications  between  each 
other.  They  were  and  are  both  living.  Mrs.  Forbes 
also  does  automatic  writing. 

On  a  certain  date  the  writing  of  Mrs.  Forbes  al- 
luded to  Mrs.  Verrall's  reading  a  book.  As  Mrs. 
Verrall  had  been  reading  the  Symposium  of  Plato  on 
the  day  mentioned  and  as  some  evident  allusion  to 
the  Symposium  had  been  made  through  her  own  auto- 
matic writing  a  year  previous,  she  resolved  to  watch 
for  further  references  to  it  in  the  automatic  writing 
of  Mrs.  Forbes.  For  some  months  the  automatic 
writing  of  Mrs.  Forbes  contained  distinct  allusions 
211 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

to  this  dialogue  and  the  contents  of  a  certain  passage. 
But  the  interesting  feature  of  the  allusions  is  that  it 
was  long  before  even  a  Greek  letter  could  be  gotten 
through  Mrs.  Forbes,  who  did  not  know  the  language. 
The  automatic  writing  of  Mrs.  Verrall  was  rich  in  its 
reproduction,  and  the  apparent  communicator 
through  Mrs.  Forbes  was  the  same  person.  Once 
Mrs.  Forbes  got  the  syllable  "  SYMP  "  and  seemed 
unable  to  go  any  further  with  it,  but  finally  ended 
with  "  a  the  tic."  Then  in  later  attempts  the  word 
"  sympathy  "  was  substituted  for  this,  and  very  often 
that  word  is  found  in  the  messages,  showing  sublim- 
inal association  and  reproduction,  the  idea  of  the 
"  Symposium  "  never  having  occurred  to  her  in  the 
writing,  as  it  most  naturally  would  not  do  so,  since 
she  was  not  acquainted  with  the  Greek  language  or 
literature. 

It  would  be  a  long  story  to  illustrate  the  whole 
series  of  communications  between  Mrs.  Verrall  and 
Mrs.  Forbes,  and  I  have  chosen  only  two  conspicuous 
instances  of  the  influence  of  the  medium's  mind  on 
the  messages  transmitted,  as  they  suffice  to  indicate 
the  contention  advanced.  We  may  readily  under- 
stand how  large  this  influence  may  be  when  it  is  ad- 
mitted to  exist  at  all,  and  the  study  of  detailed  records 
will  exhibit  this  to  any  and  all  who  give  time  and 
patience  to  their  study.  The  facts  will  fully  justify 
the  hypothesis  assumed  to  account  for  triviality  and 
confusion. 

In  order  to  understand  clearly  the  influences  which 
we  have  been  assuming  as  disturbing  the  communica- 
tions on  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  I  may  summarize 
212 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

the  situation  which  I  conceive  to  be  the  fact  in  such 
cases  as  I  have  been  discussing.  I  have  stated  that 
the  hypothesis  assumes  the  communicator  to  be  in  an 
abnormal  mental  condition  and  that  the  medium  in- 
fluences the  messages  consciously  or  unconsciously  by 
the  action  of  his  or  her  mind.  To  make  this  clearer 
I  shall  state  briefly  the  conditions  under  which  experi- 
ments are  made  and  the  assumptions  which  are  made 
and  supported  by  a  certain  amount  of  evidence  re- 
garding the  mental  agencies  at  work  in  disturbing 
communications.  There  are  three  general  conditions 
with  various  subordinate  possibilities  and  circum- 
stances affecting  the  mental  action  of  all  concerned. 

1.  There  is  the  unusual  condition  of  the  medium, 
whether  in  a  trance  or  a  conscious  state.  In  the 
broadest  terms  it  can  be  described  as  abnormal,  mean- 
ing that  it  is  not  the  usual  and  normal  condition  of 
most  people,  but  one  in  which  various  interrupted  and 
perhaps  dissociated  mental  activities  take  place.  This 
condition  varies  in  all  degrees  between  normal  con- 
sciousness and  the  deepest  states  of  unconsciousness. 
The  name  trance  is  employed,  not  to  describe  its  known 
character,  but  simply  to  indicate  that  the  phenomena 
occurring  in  it  cannot  be  classified  with  those  of  other 
and  better  known  conditions.  Communications  be- 
tween different  minds,  whatever  the  theory  we  adopt 
about  them,  would  naturally  be  affected  by  the  mental 
conditions  through  which  they  passed. 

2.  There  is  then  the  trance  personality  which  is 
named  the  "  control  "  in  mediumistic  cases  and  which 
claims  to  be  a  discarnate  spirit.  Assuming,  as  may 
be  done  in  some  cases,  that  this  trance  personality  is 

213 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  spirit,  the  hypothesis  is  that  the  "  control  "  is  in  a 
trance  or  automatic  mental  condition  as  necessary  to 
manage  the  medium  through  which  the  messages  are 
transmitted.  It  is  apparent  that,  if  this  hypothesis 
be  entertained,  the  communications,  coming  through 
this  mind,  must  be  correspondingly  modified.  Of 
course,  we  may  treat  the  trance  personality  or  "  con- 
trol "  as  a  subconscious  self  of  the  medium  and  not  as 
a  spirit  at  all.  This  fact  will  not  affect  the  hypothe- 
sis in  so  far  as  it  represents  psychological  conditions 
influencing  the  communications.  The  cleavage  be- 
tween a  secondary  personality  and  the  normal  con- 
sciousness is  often  quite  as  great  as  between  two  inde- 
pendent persons.  Indeed  often  the  communication 
between  one's  subconscious  and  conscious  states  is  as 
difficult  as  between  two  different  persons.  This,  in 
fact,  is  the  reason  that  the  functions  of  secondary  per- 
sonality so  clearly  imitate  spiritistic  phenomena  and 
deceive  so  many  with  the  belief  that  they  are  com- 
municating with  a  spirit  world  when  they  are  but 
dealing  with  subconscious  states  simulating  it,  the 
simulation  never  reaching  the  stage  of  supernormal 
information.  Hence  whether  we  assume  the  trance 
personality  to  be  a  spirit  or  a  subconscious  self  we 
are  confronted  with  a  similar  set  of  psychological 
conditions  affecting  the  connection  between  either  of 
these  and  the  normal  consciousness  or  motor  action 
of  the  medium. 

3.  There  is  the  hypothetical  condition  of  the  com- 
municator, when  we  assume  the  spiritistic  hypothesis 
to  account  for  the  supernormal  phenomena  bearing 
upon  the  personal  identity  of  certain  deceased  persons, 
214 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

This  dream-like  state  or  trance  of  the  discarnate  per- 
sons represents  the  third  set  of  abnormal  mental  con- 
ditions affecting  the  character  of  the  messages. 

We  have,  therefore,  the  following  conception  of 
the  process  in  communications  purporting  to  come 
from  deceased  persons,  at  least  in  one  type  of  medium, 
namely  the  "  possession  "  type.  First  the  communi- 
cator is  in  a  dream-like  or  somnambulic  state,  and 
communicating  his  thoughts  to  the  trance-personality 
or  "  control."  Then  there  is  the  "  control,"  whether 
spirit  or  subconscious  state,  representing  also  a  trance 
condition  on  any  theory  and  receiving  the  supernor- 
mal information  and  transmitting  it  through  the  men- 
tal conditions  of  the  medium.  Then  there  is  the 
trance  condition  of  the  medium  involving  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  normal  mental  functions  with  all  the  dis- 
turbances usually  affecting  such  a  condition.  Some- 
times also  the  communicator  purports  also  to  have 
another  intermediary  through  whom  the  messages  are 
sent  to  the  "control"  and  subjecting  them  to  still 
further  modification.  This  was  the  case  quite  fre- 
quently in  some  of  my  experiments  when  one  of  the 
communicators  had  George  Pelham  to  act  as  this  in- 
termediary between  himself  and  the  "  control."  It 
matters  not  what  theory  we  hold  of  the  phenomena 
this  is  the  psychological  form  which  they  took,  and  it 
is  this  which  I  am  emphasizing  rather  than  the  spir- 
itistic hypothesis. 

In  addition  to  these  general  conditions  there  are 
various  degrees  and  stages  of  them,  along  with  inter- 
cosmic  conditions  affecting  the  transmission  of  mes- 
sages from  spirit  to  medium  or  personality  to  person- 
215 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ality.  For  instance,  in  the  possession  type  of  medium 
the  trance  is  a  deep  one  and  the  communicator  seems 
to  be  affected  very  distinctly  with  some  f orm  of  fluctu- 
ating amnesia  or  defective  memory,  and  the  difficulty 
is  to  control  one's  mental  processes  sufficiently  to  com- 
municate at  all.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  sub- 
liminal type  of  medium  which  represents  a  less  deep 
condition  of  trance,  if,  indeed  there  is  any  of  this  at 
all.  In  such  cases  the  mind  of  the  medium  is  less  in 
rapport  with  a  transcendental  world  than  the  posses- 
sion type  and  so  naturally  modifies  the  communica- 
tions by  all  sorts  of  perceptive  and  interpreting  pro- 
cesses. Apparently  the  communicator  in  such  cases 
is  clearer  and  less  affected  by  the  conditions  of  commu- 
nicating. But  what  he  gains  by  this  situation  is  lost 
by  the  amnesia  when  he  comes  to  communicate  through 
the  possession  type.  When  we  add  to  these  circum- 
stances the  fact  that  all  sorts  of  cerebral  complications 
in  the  transmission  are  involved  and  may  avail  to 
disturb  the  integrity  of  the  communications  we  may 
well  wonder  how  any  form  of  communication  whatever 
is  possible.  The  confusion  might  well  be  much  worse 
than  it  is. 

Then  again  the  mode  of  communication  is  not  what 
it  commonly  seems.  In  the  possession  type  it  is 
usually  automatic  writing  that  serves  as  the  process 
of  transmission,  in  so  far  as  we  know  it  on  this  side. 
What  it  is  on  the  other  is  not  apparent  on  the  sur- 
face, but  seems,  after  a  study  of  a  large  record,  to 
involve  something  like  telepathy  between  the  spirit 
and  the  medium.  For  instance,  communicators  do  not 
always  refer  to  it  as  speaking,  but  often  as  thinking. 
216 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

The  distinction  is  often  implied  in  the  phrase  "  this 
way  of  speaking,"  and  various  hints  and  statements 
indicate  that  the  process  of  communication  between 
the  living  has  no  clear  analogies  with  that  necessarily 
assumed  in  these  phenomena.  Whatever  they  are, 
they  indicate  on  their  surface  something  different 
from  the  familiar,  and  various  circumstances  suggest 
the  existence  of  analogies  with  telepathic  agencies  and 
the  presence  of  a  dream-like  mental  state  in  the  real 
or  alleged  communicator.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
subliminal  type  of  medium  is  studied  we  find  more 
definite  evidence  of  an  interesting  and  unusual  condi- 
tion affecting  the  messages.  If  the  communications 
take  the  form  of  descriptive  speech  by  the  medium  it 
is  noticeable  that  they  seem  to  be  describing  what  they 
see,  and  odd  enough  are  the  implications,  very  often, 
of  these  descriptions.  The  medium  seems  to  be  look- 
ing at  objects  and  describing  them  as  in  real  life. 
It  is  precisely  this  simulation  of  the  material  world 
and  the  real  or  apparent  reproduction  of  "  spirit 
clothes  "  and  various  material  characteristics  that  we 
should  naturally  suppose  were  cast  off  by  death  that 
gives  so  much  offense  to  the  man  of  intelligence  and 
common  sense,  especially  if  he  has  any  sense  of  humor. 
But  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  take  these  descrip- 
tions as  they  appear.  They  may  be  the  result  of  tele- 
pathic messages  from  the  living  or  dead  converted  into 
phantasms  or  hallucinations  by  the  subliminal  activ- 
ities of  the  medium  through  whom  they  come.  This 
view  does  not  require  us  to  suppose  more  than  a 
thought  world  beyond  the  grave  converted  into  appar- 
ent reality  by  the  process  necessary  to  establish  a  con- 
217 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

nection  between  the  material  and  the  spiritual  world. 
In  the  dream,  somnambulic,  or  hypnotic  life  of  all 
persons  the  subconscious  processes  reproduce  ideas  or 
mental  states  in  the  form  of  hallucinations.  They  are, 
of  course,  not  of  that  persistent  type  that  indicates 
a  morbid  condition,  but  they  are  just  as  apparently 
representative  of  reality  as  normal  sense  perceptions. 
Now,  if  ideas  from  outside  minds  can  be  transmitted 
to  the  living,  whether  in  trance  or  other  unusual  con- 
dition, as  the  process  is  not  one  of  sense  perception, 
but  some  supernormal  action,  it  would  be  most  nat- 
ural to  look  in  subliminal  mental  action  for  the  agency 
through  which  the  extraneous  thought  is  transmitted 
or  expressed,  and  as  subliminal  action  is  so  closely 
associated  with  hallucinatory  functions  foreign 
thoughts  might  appear  as  realities  just  as  hallucina- 
tions do,  and  yet  not  represent  those  realities  any 
more  than  do  hallucinations.  Suppose,  then,  a  dream- 
like state  of  the  dead  when  trying  to  communicate 
and  a  subconscious  state  of  the  medium  through  which 
the  thought  must  be  transmitted,  and  we  might  well 
expect  all  the  appearance  of  realities,  as  they  are  de- 
scribed in  mediumistic  phenomena.  The  incidents  of 
one's  past  life  may  be  simply  thought  on  the  "  other 
side  "  and  as  their  telepathic  impression  on  the  sub- 
liminal mind  of  the  medium  results  in  a  phantasm,  an 
apparent  reality  to  the  medium,  we  ought  to  expect 
descriptions  reproducing  the  features  of  a  material 
world,  without  their  characterizing  such  as  a  fact. 

Let  me  take  as  an  example  the  message  which  I  re- 
ceived through  Mrs.  Smith  (Cf.  p.  137).     "  Another 
person  is  here  from  the  family  circle ;  a  little  boy  four 
218 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS;    THEORIES 

or  five  years  old.  He  is  grown  up.  He  wears  a 
little  blouse  and  little  pants  like  knickerbockers." 
Superficially  such  a  communication,  which  exactly  de- 
scribes my  brother  and  his  clothes  when  he  died  forty 
years  ago,  represents  an  apparently  material  world  of 
an  absurd  sort.  The  circumstances  enable  me  to  treat 
the  incident  here  as  not  wholly  due  to  chance.  But  if 
I  am  expected  to  believe  that  ghosts  have  clothes  I 
should  have  great  difficulty  in  accepting  and  defend- 
ing such  a  belief.  But  suppose  that  the  communica- 
tor was  simply  thinking  and  that  the  medium  was 
getting  the  message  telepathically, —  whether  from 
the  living  or  the  dead  matters  not  for  our  purposes, — 
and  that  the  subconscious  mind  simply  converted  the 
transmitted  ideas  into  hallucinatory  phantasms,  we 
could  easily  understand  in  this  message  a  reference  to 
the  boy  at  the  time  he  died,  a  recognition  of  maturity 
now  —  and  this  seems  to  be  a  characteristic  of  all  such 
phenomena  —  and  a  phantasm  of  his  dress  reproduced 
from  the  thoughts  of  the  communicator.  In  that  view 
of  the  matter  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  giving 
a  rational  interpretation  of  the  facts,  and  one  that 
most  easily  consists  with  the  spiritistic  theory. 

If,  then,  we  suppose  that  the  communicator  is  in  a 
dream-like  state ;  that  the  trance  personality  is  also  in 
more  or  less  the  same  condition,  and  that  the  medium 
is  also  in  a  morbid  condition  of  some  kind,  if  that  term 
is  not  too  strong  to  express  it,  we  can  well  under- 
stand how  trivial  and  confused  messages  would  be  the 
result  of  communication  from  an  ethereal  world,  and 
much  more  would  the  result  be  affected,  if  telepathy 
be  the  process  of  communication,  a  process  that  is 
219 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

extremely  rare  and  difficult  between  the  living.  All  of 
the  influences  together  which  I  have  mentioned  would 
explain  easily  enough  the  perplexities  of  those  who 
cannot  make  up  their  minds  on  such  phenomena  as  we 
have  been  discussing,  and  ought  to  show  that  the  ap- 
parent inconsistencies  in  the  various  hypotheses  are  in 
reality  not  such,  but  are  caused  by  the  confusion  inci- 
dent to  the  operation  of  the  several  factors  involved 
in  the  process  of  communication. 

In  the  present  chapter  it  has  been  necessary  to 
speak  and  think  more  positively  regarding  the  spirit- 
istic theory  than  in  the  previous  ones.  In  them  I  was 
primarily  interested  in  giving  the  facts,  and  I  should 
have  continued  that  policy  in  the  present  article,  if 
the  triviality  and  confusion  could  have  been  explained 
in  any  rational  way  without  trying  the  application  of 
the  spiritistic  explanation.  I  have,  therefore, 
imagined  the  spiritistic  point  of  view  as  entitled  to  a 
test  in  its  application  to  the  very  facts  which  give 
rise  to  the  sceptics'  most  trusted  objections.  I  do  not 
put  it  forward  as  anything  more  than  a  working 
hypothesis,  and  shall  unhesitatingly  abandon  it  if  a 
better  and  simpler  hypothesis  can  be  obtained  and 
supported  by  evidence.  I  should,  of  course,  not 
abandon  it  to  the  ipse  dixit  of  any  one  who  can  talk 
glibly  about  what  "  might  be."  I  want  to  know 
whether  there  is  any  evidence  that  a  particular  "  might 
be  "  is  in  reality  a  fact.  As  this  is  a  scientific  prob- 
lem every  hypothesis  must  have  its  evidence,  and  those 
that  are  supported  by  respectability  and  scepticism 
are  quite  as  much  under  obligation  to  produce  evi- 
dence as  any  spiritistic  interpretation.  All  that  I 
220 


CONCLUSION    OF    EXPERIMENTS  ;    THEORIES 

should  ask  is  that  any  theory  advanced  must  produce 
sufficient  evidence  in  its  support  to  render  it  more 
probable  than  another,  and  I  should  not  listen  to  a 
priori  possibilities  in  this  or  any  other  matter  pre- 
tending to  be  a  scientific  problem.  The  question  here 
concerns  the  best  hypothesis  in  the  light  of  the  facts, 
and  if  any  better  than  the  spiritistic  can  be  evi- 
dentially sustained  I  shall  be  the  first  to  accept  it.  I 
am  interested  only  in  discovering  a  clue  to  the  per- 
plexities which  all  admit  cannot  be  explained  by  the 
ordinary  theories. 


221 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    SMEAD    CASE 

This  case,  which  will  be  of  interest  to  psychical  re- 
searchers, came  under  my  notice  in  the  following  man- 
ner. During  the  holidays  in  December,  1901,  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  a  stranger,  who  turned  out  to  be 
a  clergyman,  saying  that  he  had  been  experimenting 
with  his  wife,  who  seemed  to  exhibit  mediumistic  pow- 
ers, and  asking  me  to  investigate  the  authenticity  of 
certain  statements  bearing  upon  the  personal  identity 
of  one  of  the  "  communicators."  He  also  made  the 
passing  remark  that  he  had  a  collection  of  "  commu- 
nications "  purporting  to  come  from  the  planet  Mars. 
I  at  once  seized  the  opportunity  to  investigate  the 
case  and  soon  received  the  Martian  matter  for  exami- 
nation. I  found  that  the  experiments  had  extended 
over  several  years  and  that  a  tolerably  complete  record 
had  been  kept.  I  at  once  became  sufficiently  inter- 
ested in  the  matter  to  arrange  the  materials  for  study 
and  publication.  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the 
results  obtained,  including  personal  experiments  of 
my  own.  In  this  account  the  gentleman  and  his  wife 
will,  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  their  identity,  be 
known  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead. 

Of  course,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Smead 
was  a  clergyman,  I  had  to  be  on  the  alert  for  fraud 
and  deception,  as  I  had  no  previous  acquaintance  with 
him  or  any  of  his  connections.     But  I  soon  found  it 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

unnecessary  to  seriously  entertain  suspicions,  as 
further  acquaintance  and  investigation  entirely  re- 
lieved me  of  the  duty  of  testing  the  evidence  from  this 
point  of  view,  as  was  done  in  the  Piper  case.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Smead  were  both  honest  and  conscientious 
people,  and  it  is  especially  pertinent  to  remark  in  this 
connection  that  it  is  the  painstaking  and  conscientious 
character  of  their  narratives  and  records  that  supplies 
the  evidence  which  depreciates  the  spiritistic  claims 
of  many  of  the  facts.  They  themselves  furnished 
nearly  all  the  evidence  of  secondary  personality  in 
their  case,  and  showed  an  entire  willingness  to  dis- 
credit any  theory  that  did  not  appear  to  be  war- 
ranted by  the  facts.  This  fortunate  circumstance 
limited  my  task  to  the  work  of  recording  and 
analyzing  the  incidents. 

It  seems  that  Mrs.  Smead  had  been  familiar  with 
planchette  writing  from  her  childhood,  and  had  occa- 
sionally practiced  it.  But  nothing  like  systematic 
experiments  had  been  made  until  1895.  In  the  mean- 
time a  number  of  apparitions  had  occurred  of  which 
a  contemporaneous  record  was  made.  But  as  they 
have  no  demonstrably  veridical  character  no  further 
mention  of  them  need  be  made  here.  They  simply 
exemplify  a  mental  type  of  which  we  have  more  inter- 
esting examples.  But  when  systematic  experimenting 
began,  as  stated,  in  1895,  the  phenomena  assumed  a 
more  suggestive  character.  In  so  far  as  the  "  com- 
municators "  were  concerned,  their  names  gave  the 
appearance  of  a  veridical  character  to  their  state- 
ments. They  were  three  deceased  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smead  and  a  deceased  brother  of  Mr.  Smead. 
223 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

As  far  as  their  identity  is  concerned  they  represent 
personalities  more  plausibly  spiritistic  than  those  in 
M.  Flournoy's  case,  which  this  one  resembles  in  many 
of  its  features.     I  shall  recur  to  this  later. 


THE   MARTIAN   ROMANCE. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  year  above  mentioned 
the  alleged  communicators  referred  several  times  to 
two  or  three  of  the  planets.  But  in  August  of  that 
year,  a  propos  of  a  question  addressed  to  a  deceased 
daughter  as  to  where  she  was,  the  answer  was  "  every- 
where," and  then,  after  denying  that  she  had  seen 
heaven,  she  remarked  that  "  some  spirits  are  on  the 
earth  and  others  are  on  other  worlds."  A  few  weeks 
afterwards  a  brother  of  this  communicator,  pur- 
porting to  write  through  the  planchette,  said  that  the 
sister  who  had  made  the  above  statement  was  away, 
and  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  Where?  "  replied 
"  Mars."  In  response  to  a  further  question  he  said 
that  his  sister  had  gone  to  Mars  "  with  uncle  Vester." 
["  Vester  "  was  the  abbreviated  form  by  which  Mr. 
Smead  had  called  his  brother  Sylvester  while  living, 
the  fact  of  course  being  known  to  Mrs.  Smead.]  At 
another  sitting  Mars  was  mentioned  again,  and  also 
the  intended  visit  there  with  this  uncle.  In  the  same 
sitting  another  communicator,  Maude  (the  sister 
of  the  previous  communicator),  referred  spontane- 
ously to  Jupiter,  and  drew  a  crude  map  of  its  surface, 
saying,  in  reply  to  a  request  to  tell  something  about 
its  people,  "  they  are  different  from  you."  Later, 
amid  much  trivial  matter,  Jupiter  was  said  to  be  the 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

"  babies'  heaven,"  whither  they  were  taken  after 
death  because  they  were  better  than  grown-up  people. 
Even  secondary  personalities  cannot  stand  the  theol- 
ogy of  Calvin  and  Edwards !  There  were  also  sev- 
eral statements  made  in  connection  with  this  reference 
to  the  infants'  heaven  that  betrayed  the  influence  of 
early  teaching  in  the  life  of  Mrs.  Smead,  and  which 
indicated  the  material  upon  which  the  secondary  per- 
sonality had  drawn  for  its  "  communications."  They 
were  perhaps  the  memories  of  Sunday  school  teach- 
ing supplemented  by  a  childish  imagination  of  what 
the  stars  might  be. 

It  was,  however,  at  the  next  experiment  that  the 
most  interesting  "  communications  "  began  regarding 
the  planet  Mars.  The  sitting  started  with  the  draw- 
ing of  a  map  in  considerable  detail,  giving  the  names 
of  the  zones  which  were  represented  on  it.  The  "  com- 
municator "  was  Maude,  the  deceased  child  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smead.  The  names  given  for  the  several  zones 
were  "  Zentin  "  (cold),  "  Zentinen  "  (very  cold), 
"  Dirnstze "  (North  Temperate  Zone),  "  Dirnst- 
zerin  "  (South  Temperate  Zone),  "  Emerincenren  " 
(Equator),  and  "  Mimtenirimte "  (Continent). 
After  the  map  was  drawn  the  following  dialogue  took 
place  between  the  "  communicator  "  and  Mr.  Smead. 

"  At  it  we  had  a  fine  time.  We  could  go  all  around 
there  easy.  The  people  are  bigger  and  there  are  not 
so  many  as  on  this  earth.  The  people  there  could  talk 
with  the  people  here  if  they  knew  their  language,  but 
they  do  not." 

(Do  the  people  in  Mars  have  flesh  and  blood  as  we 
do?)  "Yes."  (Do  they  look  like  us?)  "Some." 
225 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

(Are  there  big  cities  there?)  "No.  The  inhabit- 
ants are  most  like  Indians."  (American  Indians?) 
"Yes."  (Are  they  highly  civilized?)  "Yes,  some 
are,  in  some  things."  (What  things?)  "  In  fixing 
the  water."  (How  in  that  way?)  "  Making  it  so 
that  it  is  easy  to  get  around  it."  (How  do  they  do 
that?)  "  They  cut  great  canals  from  ocean  to  ocean 
and  great  bodies  of  water." 

At  this  point  in  the  sitting  the  "  communications  " 
stopped,  and  it  should  be  said  that  the  canals  and 
bodies  of  water  like  lakes  were  represented  on  the 
map  as  drawn  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment. 
A  curious  fact,  however,  connected  with  the  incidents, 
is  that  an  article  was  published  in  a  paper  taken  by 
the  family  and  dated  one  day  after  the  date  of  this 
sitting,  and  in  it  reference  was  made  to  Percival  Low- 
ell's articles  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  that  year 
discussing  the  question  of  Martian  inhabitants  and 
canals.  Whether  Mrs.  Smead  had  seen  this  article 
before  the  automatic  writing  by  the  planchette  de- 
pends upon  whether  the  paper  was  printed  ahead  of 
its  nominal  date,  which  I  could  not  ascertain,  or 
whether  she  had  seen  any  of  Lowell's  articles  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly,  both  of  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead 
deny  and  with  some  probabilities  in  their  favor. 
One  need  hardly  make  a  point  of  this,  however,  as  the 
resources  of  imagination  are  equal  to  all  that  was 
written  by  the  planchette,  especially  since  the  ques- 
tion of  Martian  inhabitants  and  canals  is  one  of  com- 
mon interest. 

The  next  recorded  "  communications  "  did  not  refer 
to  Mars,  but  consisted  of  apparent  messages  from 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

the  deceased  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead,  in 
which  there  was  an  evident  attempt  to  have  some  fun. 
Among  the  tricks  played  by  the  subliminal  was  the 
draft  of  a  figure  which  was  said  to  represent  the  Devil. 
The  figure  was  of  a  serpentine  character  with  the  fea- 
tures of  a  dragon.  It  was  to  some  extent  the  con- 
ventional devil  of  the  theatrical  stage.  Two  or  three 
times  during  the  Martian  "  communications  "  this  sort 
of  interruption  occurred,  involving  matter  that  had  no 
planetary  character  or  connections.  But  when  the 
Martian  "  messages  "  were  resumed  after  this  humor- 
ous diversion  it  was  interesting  to  remark  their  abrupt- 
ness and  completed  development.  It  was  not  until  five 
years  later,  however,  that  any  further  experiments 
were  made  or  recorded,  and  it  is  this  long  interval 
that  creates  the  interest  in  the  resumption  of  Martian 
matter. 

The  last  sitting  was  in  December,  1895.  The  next 
was  in  September,  1900.  In  this  latter  the  "  commu- 
nications "  present  a  developed  form  and  devotion  to 
detail.  The  planchette  began  by  drawing  a  figure 
which  might  very  easily  suggest  a  ship,  and  wrote  the 
two  words  "  Seretrevir "  and  "  Cristririe."  The 
former  was  explained  to  mean  a  sea  vessel  and  the 
latter  its  name.  It  seems  that  the  Martians  have  the 
good  sense  to  follow  terrestrial  usage  and  to  give 
names  to  their  ships.  But  an  interesting  deviation 
from  our  habits  was  the  statement  that  the  ships  were 
made  of  trees  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  Mars  did 
not  have  sawmills  as  we  do. 

In  the  next  experiment  a  curious  figure  was  drawn, 
unrecognizable  in  itself  but  which  was  explained  to  be 
227 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  "  dog  house  temple."  In  the  corners  of  it  were 
drawn  two  animals  which  were  explained  as  being 
meant  to  represent  dogs,  and  which  were  said  to  give 
the  name  to  the  temple.  The  characters  were  then 
drawn  which  described  the  temple  by  name,  and  these 
were  then  translated  into  English  characters,  "  Ti 
femo  wahrhibivie  timeviol,"  meaning  "  the  dog  house 
temple." 

In  the  same  sitting  was  given  the  name  of  a  lake 
that  had  been  drawn  on  the  map.  It  was  "  Emer- 
via."  Mr.  Smead  then  asked  the  "  communicator  " 
to  give  the  Martian  for  "  The  boy  runs,"  and  re- 
ceived the  answer  that  people  do  not  run  on  Mars, 
but  only  walk.  What  the  climate  may  be  that  pre- 
vents any  faster  pace  was  not  explained,  or  whether  it 
was  climate  or  not.  But  the  sentence  written  in  Mar- 
tian characters  and  translated  into  English  was  "  Ti 
inin  amarivim."  The  form  of  thought  as  explained 
was  "  the  boy  walking  "  and  not  "  the  boy  walks,"  a 
curious  deviation  from  the  most  natural  speech,  unless 
the  subliminal  is  shrewd  enough  to  introduce  just 
sufficient  variation  into  a  capricious  whim  of  this  kind 
to  give  it  plausibility.* 

A  few  days  later  the  planchette  drew  a  rough  sketch 
of  a  man  and  then  one  of  a  woman,  explaining  at  the 
same  time  what  they  represented  and  giving  the  Mar- 
tian words  for  the  two.  "  Mare  "  was  for  "  man," 
"  Maren  "  for  "  men,"  "  Kare  "  for  "  woman,"  and 

*  The  absence  of  such  variations  is  a  peculiarity  of  the 
Flournoy  case;  the  fact  that  in  it  the  Martian  language  fol- 
lowed exactly  the  order  and  grammar  of  French,  made  a 
strong  point  in  the  argument  against  regarding  it  as  an 
independent  language. —  [Editor's  Note.] 

228 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

"  Karen  "  for  "  women."  After  this  description  Mr. 
Smead  asked  the  question,  "  What  is  peculiar  about 
that  picture  of  the  man  you  drew?  "  and  received  the 
following  answer  with  the  continued  dialogue: 

"The    way    they    dress."     (How?)     "The    men 
wear  dresses  and  pants."     (Short  dresses?)     "Yes. 


The  women  wear  bag-like  skirts  and  funny  hats. 
Their  hair  is  hanging  down  their  shoulders.  The 
men  put  theirs  up  and  keep  long  hair  under  their  hats. 
We  went  all  around.  The  people  are  different  in  dif- 
ferent places." 

In  the  next  experiment  a  strange  figure  was  drawn 
and  the  word  "  Wereven  "  written  out,  which  was  said 
to  mean  "  serpent."  This  was  followed  by  the  ground 
plan  of  a  house  in  the  shape  of  a  double  cross,  or  two 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

crosses  with  their  arms  touching,  and  with  the  outline 
of  a  mountain  range  in  the  background.  The  lower 
part  or  half  of  the  double  cross,  however,  was  ex- 
plained to  represent  the  reflection  of  the  house  in  the 
water,  thus  indicating  that  it  was  built  on  the  shore 
of  some  body  of  water.  It  was  afterwards  explained 
also  that  the  Martian  houses  were  usually  built  on  the 
shore  of  a  lake  or  body  of  water.  In  the  present 
representation  there  were  drawn  circular  loops  in  the 
wing  sections  of  the  house.  They  were  said  to  repre- 
sent windows.  The  doors  stood  on  the  line  dividing 
the  shadow  from  the  house. 

At  the  next  two  or  three  sittings  the  tendency  was 
to  give  some  account  of  the  Martian  language  in 
the  form  of  sentences  written  out  in  Martian  char- 
acters, which  were  hieroglyphic,  and  explained  in 
English  terms.  The  sentences  were  "  This  man  is  a 
great  man,"  the  Martian  order  being  "  This  man  a 
great  man  is,"  and  "  The  great  man  addressing  his 

subjects."  Unfortunately  Mr.  Smead  did  not  pre- 
serve the  Martian  words  for  these  as  for  later  sen- 
tences. On  October  3rd  the  planchette  drew  the  pic- 
ture of  a  flower  and  wrote  the  sentence :  "  Flowers 
bloom  there.  Many  of  the  great  men  plant  them  "  ; 
the  Martian  being,  "  Moken  irin  trinen  minin  aru  ti 
maren  inine  tine."  On  the  same  date  a  still  longer 
sentence  was  written.  It  was :  "  Ti  maren  arivie 
warire  ti  marenensis  aru  ti  Artez  feu  ti  timeviol." 
The  English  of  this  is :  "  The  men  went  with  the 
230 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

subjects  of  the  chief  ruler  to  the  temple."  In  the 
course  of  the  same  experiment  the  "  communicator  " 
stated  a  fact  that  might  interest  the  student  of  poli- 
tics. It  was  that :  "  The  people  on  Mars  choose  their 
rulers,  so  that  the  children  of  great  men  do  not 
count,"  with  the  emphasis  apparently  on  "  people." 
Evidently  the  aristocrats  in  that  planet  do  not  possess 
the  franchise!  They  may  have  power,  but  they  can- 
not share  the  privilege  of  helping  in  their  own  elec- 
tion. 

On  the  next  day  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  in- 
teresting of  the  whole  series  of  drawings  was  made, 
especially  as  it  was  drawn  by  the  planchette.  It  was 
preceded  by  the  written  statement :  "  You  should 
see  some  of  their  embroideries.  The  colors  are  beau- 
tiful." Then  the  planchette  drew  a  representation  of 
an  embroidered  dress  with  flowers  scattered  over  it  in 
symmetrical  order.  After  the  dress  was  drawn  in  out- 
line the  colored  portions  were  described,  and  these 
were  variations  of  pink,  white,  green,  yellow,  brown 
and  lavender.  The  waist  was  pink  and  apparently 
draped  with  lavender  lace.  The  upper  portion  of  the 
skirt  was  white  and  contained  embroidered  flowers  in 
it,  the  flowers  having  various  colors.  Next  to  this 
was  a  wide  pink  stripe,  which  was  wider  behind  than  in 
front.  The  lower  portion  of  the  skirt  was  lavender 
in  color  and  ornamented  with  flowers  at  the  margin 
of  the  pink  stripe,  and  at  the  lower  edges.  It  is  ap- 
231 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

parently  a  portion  of  an  overskirt.  In  connection 
with  it  the  dress  was  described  in  the  following  sen- 
tence :     "  Mare  arivie  ceassin  oonei  kei  ahrue  ruinin 


warire  ti  mare."  This  was  interpreted  in  English 
to  mean :  "  Man  chief  ruler's  wife's  dress  when  she 
goes  riding  with  the  man  chief  ruler." 

On  the  next  day  the  figure  of  a  wagon  with  some 
animal  hitched  to  it  was  drawn  and  described  as  a 
"  goat-cart."  The  Martian  for  it  was  said  to  be 
"  Yeoar."  Then  on  the  following  day  a  most  re- 
markable and  original  drawing  of  a  Martian  clock 
was  made.  The  whole  and  its  parts  were  described  in 
detail.  The  Martian  name  for  it  was  "  Triveniul." 
It  consisted  of  two  circular  wooden  boxes  resting  side 
by  side  and  connected  by  openings,  through  which 
passed  from  one  to  the  other  the  wire  that  formed  the 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

coil  springs  in  each  box.  The  spring  begins  in  the 
center  of  one  box  and  terminates  in  a  coil  which  is 
wound  around  a  circular  wire  to  hold  it  in  its  place, 
runs  through  the  opening  between  the  boxes  and, 
winding  about  another  circular  wire,  terminates  as  the 
first  begins,  in  the  center  of  the  other  box.  The 
spring  is  of  brass,  and  the  spiral  Dart  of  it  is  made 


and  fastened  so  that  as  it  unwinds  in  one  of  the  boxes 
it  winds  up  the  other  in  the  second  box.  The  clock  is 
wound  once  a  day,  and  as  the  running  down  of  one 
of  the  spiral  coils  winds  up  the  other  the  latter  serves 
to  run  the  clock  during  the  night.  Though  it  was 
described  with  much  detail  the  mechanical  working  of 
it  was  not  made  clear,  and  hence  we  can  only  mention 
the  ingenuity  of  the  subconsciousness  in  constructing 
a  plausible  piece  of  machinery. 

It  seems  also  that  the  Martians  have  overcome  the 
difficulties  of  aerial  navigation.     They  have  an  air- 
ship  of   very    peculiar   and    ingenious    construction. 
233 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

The  description  of  it  by  the  planchette  after  drawing 
it  was  as  follows : 

"  Made  of  wire  cloth-like  stuff  —  made  to  go  in  the 
air.  It  is  an  air-ship.  It  is  a  coil.  You  see  it  will 
run  a  long  mile  (while)  when  they  have  to  stop  and 
wind  it,  or  it  must  be  wound  while  it  is  in  motion. 
This  coil  makes  the  wings  go.  Each  one  (wing)  is 
connected  with  this  coil  and  then  when  the  power  is 
turned  on  it  makes  them  go  like  birds'  wings.     The 


power  runs  it  all,  only  the  propeller  guides  it.     Let 
me  tell  you  about  the  wings  first. 

"  They  are  filled  with  air  so  that  they  are  light. 
Then  the  wire-like  cloth  covers  them.  There  are  fif- 
teen points  or  parts  of  the  wings  that  are  filled  with 
air.  These  wings  go  up  and  down.  The  coils  at 
the  bottom  are  used  to  help  the  wings  open.  The 
power  winds  the  coil.  The  power  is  electricity  and 
the  batteries  are  where  the  coils  are.  There  are  three 
big  coils.  One  is  for  the  wind  sails,  one  is  for  the 
wings,  and  one  is  for  the  propeller.  The  coil  is  used 
with  the  sails  because  it  is  sometimes  needed  when  the 
234* 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

winds  are  strong.     The  propeller  goes  like  a  wing. 
The  wind  makes  the  ship  go  some." 

The  sketch  of  the  air-ship  drawn  by  the  planchette 
shows  a  curiously  shaped  mechanism  that  resembles 
roughly  a  flattened  ballon  suspended  upon  a  flat  boat 
with  sails.  All  the  parts  of  it  were  named  and  accu- 
rately described,  including  the  means  of  entrance, 
which  were  round  window-like  holes  on  the  sides. 

Two  days  later  the  planchette  drew  a  mountain,  or 
elevation,  on  which  were  placed  the  Martian  symbols 
of  two  houses,  and  the  place  was  described  as  an  ob- 
servatory or  "  place  where  they  look  at  you."  There 
were  also  drawn  across  the  mountain  what  may  be  de- 
scribed as  tunnels  dug  through  it,  with  a  pipe-like 
appearance  at  one  end.  The  Martian  name  for 
house,  "  wardhibivie,"  was  written  near  the  symbols 
for  houses  and  explained  to  mean  this.  Then  a  com- 
plete Martian  sentence  was  written  describing  the 
place,  with  numerals  placed  under  the  words  to  indi- 
cate the  order  of  the  Martian  thought.  In  English 
it  read :  "  The  place  in  which  man  chief  ruler  looks 
on  your  earth  from  Mars."  The  Martian  order  indi- 
cated by  the  numbers  was :  "  The  man  chief  ruler's 
place  in  which  looks  on  your  earth  from  Mars." 
The  Martian  hieroglyphics  for  this,  when  put  into 
English  letters  and  words,  were :  "  Ti  rure  neu  in- 
few  mare  laries  en  fratuir  triuen  carmie." 

A  curious  coincidence  between  this  drawing  and  one 
in  Flournoy's  case  is  to  be  noticed.  Mile.  Helene 
Smith  also  drew  a  Martian  observatory  with  a  tunnel 
in  it,  and  it  appears  that  Mrs.  Smead  was  unaware 
of  the  fact,  as,  although  Flournoy's  book  was  in  the 
235 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

house,  it  had  been  withheld  from  her  reading  on  pur- 
pose to  avoid  such  coincidences,  and  unless  we  are  to 
believe  that  Mrs.  Smead  had  examined  the  book  in  an 
unconscious  state  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
she  had  seen  any  of  Mile.  Helene  Smith's  drawings. 

The  subject  was  not  resumed  until  a  month  later, 
when,  on  November  14th,  the  planchette  wrote  a  Mar- 
tian sentence  representing  the  statement  that  the  peo- 
ple in  that  planet  were  eating  a  meal.  The  house 
to  which  the  statement  referred  seems,  according  to  the 
original  record,  not  to  have  been  drawn  until  ten  days 
later,  November  24th.  But  the  sentence  was: 
"  Wardhibivie  arri  prri  kau  friuiol  taikin  sirvuen." 
To  a  question  as  to  what  the  Martians  were  eating, 
the  answer  was,  in  English,  "  bread,  cake,  something 
like  water,  fruit,  and  chicken."  The  Martian  for 
these  foods  was :  "  Fraiu,  kreki,  trikuil,  caruitz, 
fluiniz."  The  drawing  of  the  house  represented 
merely  the  ground  plan,  and  described  the  furniture 
in  it,  with  the  position  of  each  piece,  including 
couches,  hassocks,  a  cushion,  table,  water  vessel,  clock, 
and  doors. 

At  the  next  experiment,  which  was  on  November 
15th,  the  planchette  drew  the  representation  of  a  Mar- 
tian chicken,  and  said  that  this  fowl  was  not  so  large 
as  the  terrestrial  chicken.  There  was  apparently  an 
associative  connection  of  the  incident  with  those  of  the 
previous  day.  Then  on  November  16th,  with  prob- 
ably a  similar  associative  connection,  a  house  was 
drawn  and  said  to  represent  the  palace  of  Artez,  the 
chief  ruler.  The  parts  of  the  palace  were  described 
in  great  detail  after  drawing  it.  It  consisted  of  two 
236 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

divisions,  one  of  white  and  the  other  of  gray  stone- 
That  of  gray  stone  was  by  far  the  larger,  and  showed 
a  different  style  of  architecture.  It  was  characterized 
by  a  series  of  square  towers  connected  together  on  the 
first  story.  Two  of  the  towers,  of  which  there  were 
eight  in  all,  were  larger  than  the  others.  There  were 
four  stairways  arranged  between  the  towers,  except 
between  the  second  and  third,  and  between  the  fourth 
and  fifth.  The  doors  were  large  and  of  rectangular 
shape,   and   some   of   the   windows   round   and   some 


square.  The  roof  was  made  so  as  to  serve  as  a 
promenade,  and  access  to  it  was  gained  through  doors 
in  the  towers.  The  white  stone  house  was  smaller 
than  the  gray  one,  and  built  in  the  same  general  style, 
except  that  the  towers,  if  so  they  may  be  called,  ter- 
minated in  pyramids,  and  the  windows  were  all  round. 
The  foreground  consisted  of  lawns,  flower-beds,  and 
ponds  or  artificial  lakes.  The  background  was  a 
series  of  lofty  mountains,  with  the  blue  sky  to  set 
them  off.  In  all  the  representation  was  a  magnificent 
piece  of  work,  and  involved  conceptions  worthy  of  a 
fine  artist. 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Eight  days  later  the  planchette  drew  the  ground 
plan  of  this  house  or  palace,  as  remarked  above,  and 
then  the  representation  of  a  curtain  used  in  it.  The 
curtain  is  an  interesting  work  of  art  in  some  respects. 
It  was  apparently  embroidered,  and  was  described  in 
detail.  The  fringe  at  the  bottom  consisted  of  repre- 
sentations of  people,  and  was  of  dark  gray  or  brown 
color.  Immediately  above  it,  of  a  lighter  color 
and  mixed  with  yellow,  was  a  sort  of  serpentine- 
shaped  decoration,  and  above  this  a  yellow  stripe.  On 
this  was  superposed  a  wide  red  stripe  with  four  speci- 
mens of  flowers,  as  if  set  in  pots.  The  two  middle 
flowers  were  single,  and  the  two  outside  sets  were  of 
three  branches  each.  Over  this  belt  was  a  narrow 
strip  of  gray  color,  apparently  representing  the 
walks  and  gardens  of  a  palace:  for  in  the  center  of 
the  curtain  above  this  belt  were  the  white  stone  di- 
visions of  the  palace  described  previously,  with  green 
swards  in  the  background  rising  into  mountains  and 
sky  further  back.  On  the  sides  of  this  picture,  as  a 
margin,  were  rectangles  of  red  and  yellow,  and  at  the 
top  a  heavy  brown  fringe  like  that  at  the  bottom. 
The  whole  representation  is  both  unique,  in  its  way, 
and  well  conceived. 

Nearly  a  fortnight  later  another  curtain  was 
drawn.  It  was  somewhat  different  in  style  from  the 
first  specimen.  The  fringe  and  margins  were  not  of 
the  same  type,  and  were  not  described  in  detail.  The 
central  ornament  was  a  representation  of  the  Martian 
air-ship  with  a  background  of  cloud  and  sky.  Curi- 
ously enough  the  figure  of  the  air-ship  is  quite  identi- 
cal with  that  drawn  much  earlier,  showing  the  same 
238 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 


239 


subliminal  memory  as  is  noticeable  in  the  hieroglyphic 
symbols  of  speech  and  thought,  which  are  correctly 
repeated  when  once  the  fabrications  are  made.     The 


HHiiiH 


V  V  v  y  v  vvv 


sails  of  the  air-ship  were  white,  the  curtain  generally 
of  brown,  but  the  embroidery  of  a  light  blue. 

At  various  intervals  during  the  next  ten  days  there 
were  drawn  a  bridal  veil  which  duplicates  our  speci- 
men of  this  article  in  all  essential  respects,  a  lady 
wearing  this  veil  and  a  dress  with  a  long  train,  and 
in   connection  with  the  latter  the  Martian  sentence: 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

"  Mirwerel  Wariema  Marquein  wardhibivie  ma- 
manie."  The  order  of  this  in  English  would  have 
been,  according  to  the  numerals  placed  under  the 
words :  "  Marquein  Wariema  wardhibivie  Mirwerel 
mamanie."  The  English  interpretation  of  this  was 
said  to  be :  "  The  house  where  the  bride  Marquein 
Wariema  lives  with  her  husband " ;  or  after  the 
grammatical  structure  of  the  Martian,  "  Marquein 
Wariema's  house  live  together  husband."  It  was  also 
explained  that  the  Martian  bride  retains  her  name 
after  marriage,  which  in  this  case  was  "  Wariema," 
as  "  Marquein  "  was  said  to  be  that  of  her  husband. 
There  is  no  record  of  any  drawing  of  a  house  on  this 
occasion  to  explain  the  reference  of  the  sentence. 

The  next  drawing  represented  a  large  house  with 
two  wings,  so  to  speak.  It  resembles  a  large  bar- 
racks and  is  plain  in  architecture.  The  windows  are 
again  round  and  very  numerous.  It  was  described  as 
"  the  place  where  the  men  that  get  married  work." 
Two  days  later  a  Martian  sentence  was  written  ex- 
plaining that  "  the  men  work  in  the  fields  before  they 
marry."  The  Martian  of  this  was :  "  Ti  maren 
oreicein  ein  treviens  veren  quren  mariqim."  There 
were  some  indications  that  the  men  who  had  to  live 
this  life  before  marriage  were  of  the  aristocratic 
class  and  even  princes  of  the  Crown,  a  most  delightful 
way  of  reducing  this  class  to  democratic  respectabil- 
ity. It  is  on  a  par  with  the  Martian  limitation  of 
the  franchise! 

This  was  the  last  of  the  Martian  "  communica- 
tions." They  were  suddenly  interrupted  and  termi- 
nated by  the  appearance  at  the  next  experiment  of  a 
240 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

new  personality  who  called  himself  Harrison  Clarke 
and  who  shut  out  all  other  would-be  "  communica- 
tors." He  apparently  had  no  interest  in  inter- 
planetary matters  and  never  even  alluded  to  them.  I 
shall  return  to  him  presently.  It  is  only  necessary 
now  to  indicate  the  interruption  of  the  Martian  mat- 
ter and  then  to  ask  the  question  what  it  signifies. 

The  psychologist  and  psychical  researcher  will 
recognize  at  once  what  these  phenomena  mean. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  they  are  what  they  purport 
to  be.  The  only  hypothesis  that  recommends  itself 
under  such  conditions  is  that  of  secondary  personal- 
ity. There  are  internal  indications  in  the  drawings 
of  the  planchette  that  suggest  this  theory,  even  if 
we  had  no  other  evidence  of  it.  For  instance,  the 
mechanical  impossibility  of  the  air-ship,  the  evident 
confusion  of  a  "  propeller "  with  the  helm,  the  ap- 
propriation of  forces  like  electricity,  which  is  the  sub- 
ject of  present  terrestrial  excitement  in  expectation 
of  further  discoveries,  the  general  play  of  this  un- 
conscious process  reproducing  phenomena  too  much 
like  the  terrestrial  to  escape  suspicion,  all  these  are 
facts  which  take  the  Martian  "  communications  "  en- 
tirely out  of  the  category  of  spiritistic  revelations, 
unless  better  evidence  is  forthcoming  to  show  a  tran- 
scendental significance.  But  the  most  interesting 
and  important  feature  of  the  case  remains  after  we 
have  classified  it.  It  is  the  psychological  value  of 
such  cases  for  the  study  of  alleged  spiritism.  We 
find  in  them  evidence  that  we  need  not  attribute  fraud 
to  the  normal  consciousness,  and  we  discover  automatic 
processes  of  mentation  that  may  be  equally  acquitted 
241 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  fraudulent  intent,  owing  to  the  absence  of  self- 
consciousness,  while  we  are  also  free  from  the  obliga- 
tion to  accept  the  phenomena  at  their  assumed  value. 
Their  most  extraordinary  characteristic  is  the  extent 
to  which  they  imitate  the  organizing  intelligence  of 
a  normal  mind  and  the  perfection  of  their  impersona- 
tion of  spirits,  always  betraying  their  limitations, 
however,  just  at  the  point  where  we  have  the  right  to 
expect  veridical  testimony  to  their  claims.  In  this 
case  these  claims  are  more  plausible  than  in  Prof. 
Flournoy's.  His  "  spirits "  could  do  nothing  to 
prove  their  identity,  and  assumed,  what  I  believe  is 
the  prevailing  form  of  spiritism  in  France,  namely 
the  doctrine  of  reincarnation.  But  this  feature,  as 
in  spiritism  in  this  country,  is  absent  from  the  present 
case,  which  is  connected  with  personalities  who  might 
be  expected  to  prove  their  identity,  and  we  shall  find 
in  the  sequel  that  some  things  are  done  to  satisfy  this 
expectation,  at  least  in  its  superficial  aspects. 

THE  MYSTIFICATION  OF  HARRISON  CLARKE. 

As  I  have  already  remarked,  the  "  communica- 
tions "  exhibiting  the  Martian  characteristics  were 
not  the  only  ones  which  occurred  during  this  period 
of  planchette  writing.  I  have  simply  grouped  the 
Martian  incidents  together  for  collective  examination 
and  study.  They  were  interspersed  at  various  times 
with  alleged  "  communications  "  of  a  very  different 
sort,  and  partaking  of  superficial  characteristics 
similar  to  those  which  have  made  the  Piper  case  so 
interesting.  Several  relatives,  and  even  entire  stran- 
242 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

gers  whose  identity  could  not  be  traced,  purported 
to  "  communicate,"  and  gave  much  more  plausibility 
to  the  spiritistic  explanation  than  did  the  Flournoy 
phenomena. 

One  special  illustration  of  this  plausible  character, 
was  the  personality  of  Harrison  Clarke.  He  ap- 
peared, as  already  said,  without  previous  announce- 
ment and  interrupted  the  Martian  "  communica- 
tions," shutting  out  all  other  intruders.  One  of  his 
special  traits  is  his  cleverness  in  tricks  of  writing. 
He  shows  about  equal  facility  at  inverted,  mirror  and 
normal  writing.  The  inverted  writing  is  backwards 
and  upside  down,  so  that  it  must  be  read  by  turning 
the  sheet  over  from  top  to  bottom.  The  mirror  writ- 
ing can  be  read  only  in  a  mirror.  But  it  was  his 
autobiography  that  proved  the  most  interesting  of 
all  his  work.  At  first  he  relied  on  his  tricks  of  writ- 
ing to  prove  his  spiritistic  claims,  but  when  he  was 
given  to  understand  that  these  were  not  sufficient  he 
condescended  to  meet  our  demands  for  more  appro- 
priate data  to  prove  his  terrestrial  identity,  and  the 
result  was  the  following  story,  which  was  given  at 
different  times  and  not  in  the  chronological  order  in 
which  I  here  arrange  his  statements. 

He  was  born  in  a  small  town,  now  a  part  of 
Chicago.  He  did  not  name  the  suburb.  At  the  age 
of  two  years  he  was  taken  to  Albany,  New  York 
State,  where  he  was  brought  up  by  an  aunt.  When 
he  became  old  enough  he  went  to  New  York  City 
and  worked  there  awhile,  but  removed  to  Baltimore, 
where  he  obtained  work  in  a  small  store.  There  he 
fell  in  love  with  a  young  lady,  whom  he  called  "  his 
243 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

girl,"  and  became  engaged  to  her.  Thinking  that 
if  he  was  going  to  get  married  he  ought  to  have  a 
trade,  he  came  back  to  New  York  and  was  emplo}red 
as  a  type-setter  in  the  office  of  the  New  York  Herald. 
In  the  meantime  "  his  girl "  in  Baltimore  died,  and 
the  effect  upon  Harrison  Clarke  was  a  broken  heart. 
He  enlisted  in  the  army  and  was  "  in  the  last  regiment 
that  left  New  York  City  for  the  war."  This,  he 
said,  was  in  1862.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 
He  named  the  Generals,  Grant  as  in  chief  command 
there  and  Sherman  under  him,  with  General  Lew 
Wallace,  saying  that  he  himself  was  in  Wallace's  di- 
vision and  that  Wallace  had  taken  General  C.  F. 
Smith's  place  because  of  the  latter's  sickness.  Gen- 
eral Bragg  was  also  mentioned  as  the  Confederate 
commander.  One  night  Harrison  Clarke  and  his 
comrade  were  out,  for  reasons  not  definitely  explained, 
wandering  about  through  swampy  ground,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  lost.  Towards  morning  they  were  dis- 
covered by  a  rebel  guard  and  shot.  Clarke  was  shot 
through  the  lungs,  but  did  not  die  immediately.  In 
the  meantime  he  was  visited  by  the  spirit  of  his  lady 
love,  who  told  him  that  he  was  coming  with  her. 
He  demurred  at  first,  but  finally  consented  on  receiv- 
ing the  promise  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  return 
some  time  and  tell  that  he  survived  the  ordeal  of 
death. 

This    is   an   interesting   and   circumstantial   story. 
Some  of  the  incidents  it  was  not  possible  to  investi- 
gate for  verification  or  disproof,  as  they  were  not 
accompanied  by  the  details  necessary  to  secure  a  clue. 
244 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

The  incident  of  employment  in  the  Herald  office  had 
its  possibilities,  but  the  authorities  there  refused  to 
permit  the  necessary  examination  of  their  books  to 
determine  whether  or  not  any  such  person  ever  worked 
there  as  claimed.  The  authorities  in  the  War  De- 
partment at  Washington,  D.  C,  were  more  kind  and 
accommodating.  In  response  to  enquiries  on  the 
matter  they  reported  to  me  that  there  were  no  New 
York  Regiments  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  This  battle 
occurred  in  June,  1862.  There  was  a  Harrison 
Clarke  in  the  125th  New  York  Regiment,  but  he  was 
still  living  at  the  time  of  these  experiments  and  had 
never  been  in  the  battle  named.  There  was  also  a 
Harrison  Clarke  in  one  of  the  Illinois  regiments  in 
the  battle  of  Shiloh,  but  he  was  mustered  out  at  the 
close  of  the  war  and  did  not  die  until  1895.  There 
was  a  Harrison  Clarke  killed  in  the  battle  of  Fair 
Oaks  in  April,  1862.  This  place  was  situated  in  a 
swampy  region,  but  the  incidents  narrated  do  not  fit 
such  a  person.  My  discovery  in  Washington,  how- 
ever, put  an  end  to  the  spiritistic  claims  of  Harrison 
Clarke.  The  mention  of  the  Generals  in  the  battle 
of  Shiloh  was  correct,  but  it  is  possible  that  Mrs. 
Smead  has  read  somewhere  an  account  of  that  battle 
and  does  not  remember  the  facts  in  her  normal  state. 
It  is  also  true  that  Harrison  Clarke  did  not  spon- 
taneously say  that  he  enlisted  in  a  New  York  Regi- 
ment, though  he  seemed  to  assent  to  this  when  it  was 
suggested.  His  spontaneous  statement  was  that  his 
regiment  was  the  last  to  leave  the  city  before  that 
battle.  But  the  fact  that  no  trace  can  be  found  of 
245 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

any  Harrison  Clarke  having  been  killed  in  that  battle 
indicates  quite  clearly  what  disposal  had  to  be  made 
of  his  claims. 

As  soon  as  I  had  ascertained  that  no  New  York 
regiments  had  been  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh  I  resolved 
to  confront  this  personality  with  the  facts.  I  sent 
them  to  Mr.  Smead,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  he 
presented  them  to  Harrison  Clarke  for  explanation. 
When  this  was  done  Harrison  Clarke  showed  the 
natural  embarrassment  which  the  contradiction  was 
bound  to  produce,  but  began  a  battle  of  intellectual 
sparring  and  defiance  which  perhaps  has  hardly  its 
equal  in  the  annals  of  secondary  personality.  Clarke 
admitted  the  embarrassing  nature  of  the  situation, 
but  at  the  suggestion  of  desertion  he  seized  the  chance 
to  say  that  he  had  deserted  the  New  York  regiment 
and  had  re-enlisted  under  another  name  in  a  regiment 
that  enabled  him  to  be  present  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 
But  he  absolutely  refused  to  give  the  name  under 
which  he  had  re-enlisted!  He  saw  a  way  to  escape 
being  trapped  again,  and  stubbornly  refused  to  sup- 
ply any  more  data  for  determining  his  personal  iden- 
tity. As  a  consequence  his  presence  was  discouraged, 
and  he  soon  disappeared  in  a  fit  of  anger  and  did 
not  reappear  again  for  some  time,  when  he  seemed 
somewhat  chastened  and  subdued,  though  he  would 
not  do  anything  more  to  establish  his  identity. 

I  need  not  tell  a  psychical  researcher  why  this  per- 
sonality cannot  be  treated  as  spiritistic.  The  inter- 
est to  the  psychological  student  lies  in  its  simulation 
of  the  real  in  its  circumstantial  story.  The  superior- 
ity of  the  personality  in  this  respect  to  Flournoy's 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

Marie  Antoinette,  Leopold,  and  the  Martian  Reincar- 
nation is  perfectly  manifest,  as  the  incidents  have  all 
the  internal  probabilities  that  the  most  inveterate 
spiritist  might  desire.  The  personality  is  perfectly 
natural  and  satisfies  all  the  criteria  for  a  spirit,  except 
the  truthfulness  of  the  narrative.  In  this  it  exhibits  a 
most  interesting  illustration  of  intelligence,  and 
makes  a  valuable  case  of  secondary  personality  for 
the  student  of  spiritistic  problems  in  either  their 
spurious  or  their  genuine  manifestations. 

There  were  interesting  phenomena,  besides  those 
that  I  have  mentioned,  which  illustrate  a  remarkable 
secondary  personality  in  this  character.  For  in- 
stance, when  asked  to  write  the  name  of  Philadelphia 
in  mirror  writing  with  every  other  letter  omitted, 
this  was  done  almost  to  perfection,  with  a  dash  and 
promptness  that  would  take  one  off  his  feet,  so  to 
speak,  with  surprise.  Again,  to  test  the  question  of 
the  supernormal  I  once  placed  my  arm  in  a  hanging 
position  so  that  my  body  would  completely  conceal  it 
from  Mrs.  Smead's  field  of  vision  while  she  was  in  a 
deep  trance  with  her  eyes  closed,  and  moving  my 
hand  backward  and  forward  on  the  wrist  as  a  hinge, 
so  as  not  to  move  the  arm  or  cause  any  noise  with 
the  coat  sleeve  which  might  affect  any  supposed  hyper- 
assthesic  condition  of  Mrs.  Smead,  I  asked  this  per- 
sonality what  I  was  doing,  and  received  the  answer 
that  I  was  moving  my  hand.  On  my  recognition 
of  the  answer's  correctness  Harrison  Clarke  asked 
me  triumphantly  whether  I  did  not  believe  in  him 
now.  I  flattered  him  on  his  success,  but  pressed  him 
with  the  necessity  of  proving  his  identity  if  he  were 
Ml 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

to  satisfy  me.  Similar  feats  were  performed  in  one 
or  two  other  instances,  but  the  psychologist  would 
want  more  experiments  of  this  kind  and  would  think 
of  something  else  than  spirits  in  all  such  cases. 

As  an  illustration  of  how  much  secondary  person- 
ality had  to  do  with  the  claims  and  character  of  Har- 
rison Clarke  I  may  refer  to  a  most  interesting  cir- 
cumstance. After  I  had  reported  to  Mr.  Smead,  and 
he  to  Harrison  Clarke,  the  fact  that  the  person  of 
that  name  in  the  125th  New  York  Regiment  was  still 
living,  this  personality  had  the  audacity  to  cause  a 
vision  to  appear  to  Mrs.  Smead,  in  which  he  himself 
was  represented  as  showing  her  his  regiment  march- 
ing before  her,  and  when  the  ninth  line  was  reached 
in  which  he  had  said  originally  that  he  had  marched, 
he  pointed  out  a  vacancy  in  the  line  to  indicate  where 
he  had  been,  and  that  he  had  really  been  killed.  This 
was,  of  course,  the  subliminal  utilizing  my  own  in- 
formation and  confusing  it. 

Another  incident  which  presents  a  remarkable  in- 
stance of  auto-suggestion  is  the  following,  which  oc- 
curred in  one  of  Mr.  Smead's  experiments.  Mr. 
Smead  had  asked  what  became  of  Mrs.  Smead's  soul 
when  he,  Harrison  Clarke,  was  writing,  and  the  reply 
was  that  she  was  asleep.  On  a  further  question  to 
know  if  she  was  aware  of  what  was  going  on,  Harri- 
son Clarke  said:  "  Ask  her  what  she  just  saw,"  and 
when  Mr.  Smead  asked  his  wife  to  tell  him  what  she 
saw,  she  being  still  in  the  trance,  Harrison  Clarke 
replied :  "  Yes,  when  she  wakes."  After  she  awoke, 
which  was  almost  immediately,  she  narrated  a  most 
interesting  vision.  She  had  seen  a  lady  dressed  in 
248 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

olden  style,  and  had  thought  it  was  Harrison  Clarke's 
lady-love.  There  were  several  other  visions  with 
much  interest  in  them,  but  it  would  take  too  much 
time  to  go  into  their  details.  All  of  them  suggest 
and  some  of  them  prove  the  influence  of  secondary 
personality,  and  so  aid  in  this  explanation  of  Harri- 
son Clarke  in  spite  of  his  greater  plausibility  than 
any  of  the  personalities  in  Flournoy's  case. 

THE     MEDIUMSHIP     OF     MRS.     SMEAD     IN     CONNECTION 
WITH    THAT    OF    MRS.    PIPER. 

But  the  matter  does  not  end  here.  Incidents  with 
still  greater  interest  than  those  of  Harrison  Clarke 
are  yet  to  come.  I  had  obtained  some  of  the  Clarke 
incidents  at  sittings  which  I  held  in  the  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Smead,  and  the  case  interested  me  suffi- 
ciently to  cause  me  to  arrange  for  a  series  of  experi- 
ments in  my  own  house  in  New  York,  as  I  was  so 
situated  that  I  could  not  leave  the  city.  My  plan 
was  to  try  an  experiment  which  Dr.  Hodgson  had  for 
many  years  wished  to  try  in  the  Piper  case,  if  we 
could  find  another  medium  of  promise  to  make  the 
trial.  This  was  to  establish  communication  between 
Mrs.  Piper  and  another  medium  so  that  we  could  ex- 
change messages  at  the  same  time.  I  made  arrange- 
ments with  Dr.  Hodgson  to  try  this  experiment 
simultaneously  with  his  sittings  near  Boston.  In 
pursuance  of  this  I  brought  Mrs.  Smead  to  New 
York.  On  the  appointed  day  and  hour  Mrs.  Smead 
went  into  trance  in  New  York  and  at  the  same  time 
Dr.  Hodgson  had  his  sitting  at  Arlington  Heights, 
24-9 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

near  Boston.  This  was  on  March  12th.  Somewhere 
about  11 :30  or  12  o'clock  Dr.  Hodgson  told  "  Rec- 
tor," the  "  control "  in  the  Piper  case  at  the  time, 
what  I  was  doing  in  New  York  and  what  I  wanted 
of  him,  namely,  that  he  should  investigate  my  case 
and  see  if  he  could  communicate  through  that  me- 
dium. Rector  went  on  to  finish  his  "  communica- 
tions "  through  Mrs.  Piper  and  after  he  had  closed 
them  with  his  usual  form  of  statement,  as  if  recollect- 
ing an  important  matter,  the  hand  of  Mrs.  Piper 
wrote  in  good  strong  script,  "  Remember  . 
Hyslop." 

I  omit  between  these  two  words  the  pass  sentence 
that  my  father,  acting  as  supposed  communicator, 
had  spontaneously  given  me  on  February  7th,  1900, 
at  a  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper  and  intended  as  a  means 
of  identification  in  future  experiments  with  mediums 
other  than  Mrs.  Piper.  On  the  next  day,  March  13th, 
Rector  took  up  a  part  of  the  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper 
at  which  Dr.  Hodgson  was  present  and  in  the  "  com- 
munications "  discussed  the  case  with  Mrs.  Smead.  I 
report  here  the  record  as  made  at  Arlington  Heights, 
with  the  omission  of  reference  to  other  cases  not  af- 
fecting mine,  and  of  certain  confusions  in  the  "  com- 
munications."    Rector's  statements  were  as  follows: 

"  Friends,  in  looking  over  the  light  with  friend 
Hyslop  there  is  little  indeed  to  be  said  by  us  concern- 
ing it,  or  the  antecedents  therein  exercised  by  the  so- 
called  light.  It  is  really  not  worth  recording,  i.e., 
the  genuineness  of  it."  (R.  H.,  You  mean  that  there 
is  a  little  real  light,  but  not  much  ? )  "  Yes,  have  we 
not  so  expressed  it,  in  different  words,  perhaps?  " 
250 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

(Is  there  enough  for  you  to  send  any  message  there?) 
"  No  there  is  not."  (Then  is  it  worth  our  spending 
any  more  time  about  it  here  now?)  [Mrs.  Piper's 
hand  listens,  as  it  were,  to  the  invisible.]  (Have  you 
any  advice  to  give?)  "  Yes,  and  hast  thou  any  arti- 
cle of  his,  Hyslop's,  friend?  "      (No.) 

"  We  will  for  absolute  surety  send  Prudens  there  at 
once  and  see  precisely  what  the  conditions  are  while 
the  meeting  is  going  on.  We  ask  thee  to  ask  him  to 
be  wary.  The  so-called  light  as  seen  by  us  is  not 
a  light  given  from  our  world  at  all,  but  the  conditions 
are  hypocritic  (deceptive)  and  fanciful." 

(Then  do  you  see  whether  the  deception  is  on  the 
part  of  the  supraliminal  consciousness,  or  is  it  due  to 
the  subliminal  or  understratum?)  "  Subliminal  and 
not  supraliminal.  And  therefore  the  subject  is  not 
consciously  deceiving,  but  a  few  suggestions  from  the 
experimenter  would  soon  determine  in  his  mind  the 
conditions  as  herein  described.  It  would  be  infinitely 
wiser  to  suggest  to  the  subject  that  the  statements, 
visions,  etc.,  were  due  to  the  hidden  consciousness,  and 
were  being  produced  through  the  condition  known  as 
thought  transference" 

(She  has,  I  understand  from  you,  a  capacity  for  re- 
ceiving impressions  to  some  extent  telepathically  from 
incarnate  persons.) 

"  Yes,  and  not  discarnate.  This  explains  abso- 
lutely the  conditions  there  represented."  [Hand  then 
thumps  the  table  once,  then  points  to  invisible.] 

Prudens.  "  The  statements  by  the  spirit  register- 
ing are  correct."  (You  mean  by  Rector?)  "Yes, 
I  do.     Prudens." 

"  We  can  point  out  numerous  cases  similar."  (It 
is  quite  frequent  do  you  find?)  "Yes,  in  our  long 
search  for  other  lights  than  the  one  through  which  we 
251 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

now  operate  we  find  this  unfortunately  to  be  the  case." 
(Do  you  in  such  cases  see  a  light?)  "  Not  in  all, 
but  with  an  exceptional  few."  (Do  you  mean  a  light 
that  cannot  be  used  by  discarnate  spirits?)  "  No, 
but  a  light  which  if  rightly  developed  and  understood 
could  be  used  at  times  by  discarnate  spirits." 

Some  further  statements  were  made  by  the  trance 
personality  about  other  cases,  comparing  them  with 
my  own,  and  they  ended  with  the  sentence :  "  There 
is  in  the  person  with  Hyslop  a  light,  but  not  a  decep- 
tive one." 

My  sittings  with  Mrs.  Smead  in  New  York  on 
both  of  these  dates,  March  12th  and  13th,  were  entire 
failures.  Not  a  line  or  word  was  obtained  that  would 
even  suggest  the  supernormal  evidentially,  and  even 
secondary  personality  was  not  evident  except  in  the 
fact  of  automatic  writing.  On  the  second  of  these 
days  I  received  the  name  of  my  wife  in  the  automatic 
writing.  She  had  died  a  few  months  previously  and 
Mrs.  Smead  was  told  the  fact  after  the  sitting  of  the 
previous  day,  and  the  circumstances  were  such  that 
they  do  not  encourage  the  belief  that  there  was  any- 
thing significant  in  the  incident.  But  it  is  extremely 
interesting  to  find  that  my  own  results  coincided  with 
the  judgment  of  Rector  and  Prudens  at  the  sittings 
with  Mrs.  Piper.  The  Martian  "  communications  " 
and  the  incidents  of  Harrison  Clarke  were  so  palpably 
complicated  with  secondary  personality,  or  subliminal 
mental  action  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Smead,  that  the 
reader  who  recognizes  this  fact  must  be  struck  with 
the  general  correctness  of  Rector's  diagnosis.  Most 
striking  was  his  reference  to  "  visions,"  since  the 
252 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

reader  has  been  informed  that  subjective  apparitions 
and  visions  are  a  very  frequent  phenomenon  in  the 
experience  of  Mrs.  Smead,  and  there  are  many  more 
of  them  than  I  have  mentioned. 


INTRODUCTION    OF  OTHER   COMMUNICATORS ',   SOME  IN- 
DICATIONS OF  SPIRITISTIC  MESSAGES. 

At  the  next  few  sittings  some  incidents  developed 
that  suggest  the  correctness  of  Rector's  admission  of 
supernormal  capacity  to  the  extent  of  thought  trans- 
ference, as  necessary  to  explain  at  least  one  circum- 
stance. The  sitting  on  the  14th  showed  nothing  of 
importance.  On  the  15th,  early  in  the  experiment,  I 
got  my  father's  name,  but  as  this  was  probably  known 
to  Mrs.  Smead  from  my  article  in  Harper's  Maga- 
zine I  could  attach  no  significance  to  it,  and  hence 
I  asked  that  the  pass  sentence  be  given,  to  which  I 
have  referred  above.  My  request  was  followed  by 
scrawls  at  first  and  then  in  a  few  minutes  the  first 
word  of  that  sentence  and  probably  the  second  were 
written,  the  first  quite  clearly.  This  was  in  a  lan- 
guage which  Mrs.  Smead  does  not  know  and  never 
has  known.  The  sentence  was  known  to  but  two 
persons,  Dr.  Hodgson  (since  deceased)  and  myself, 
and  is  secured  under  lock  and  key  against  discovery. 
At  this  and  the  next  sitting  I  also  received  several 
names  suggestive  of  a  spiritistic  theory,  but  as  the 
circumstances  made  it  possible  that  Mrs.  Smead  might 
have  accidently  heard  them  I  can  attach  no  import- 
ance to  the  facts,  though  the  probabilities  are  against 
her  knowledge  of  them.  The  last  sitting  was  an  en- 
253 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tire  failure  owing  to  an  attack  of  influenza  which 
seized  Mrs.  Smead.  On  the  whole  I  was  not  im- 
pressed with  the  sittings,  in  spite  of  the  significance 
attaching  to  the  delivery  of  a  part  of  the  pass  sen- 
tence. The  evidence  for  the  supernormal  of  any  kind 
was  too  small  to  deserve  much  consideration,  and  it 
is  only  the  remarkably  correct  diagnosis  of  the  trance 
personalities  in  the  Piper  experiments  that  demands 
attention. 

There  are  incidents,  however,  that  lend  much  more 
support  to  the  spiritistic  theory  and  might  confirm 
the  possibility,  recognized  by  Rector,  of  communica- 
tions from  the  discarnate.  They  were  sporadic  oc- 
currences during  the  whole  period  of  these  manifesta- 
tions. The  first  important  one  occurred  as  far  back 
as  1896.  Besides  a  large  number  which  are  amen- 
able to  the  hypothesis  of  secondary  personality  the 
following  seem  to  be  exempt  from  suspicion  of  this 
kind. 

While  Mr.  Smead  had  charge  of  a  small  pastorate 
in  another  town  than  his  present  residence  he  and 
Mrs.  Smead  had  an  intimate  friend  and  parishioner 
in  the  person  of  a  young  lady  of  the  name  of  Maude 
L.  Janes.  Mr.  Smead  had  moved  in  the  meantime 
and  an  occasional  letter  between  Mrs.  Smead  and  this 
Miss  Janes  had  passed  for  a  year  after  the  removal 
in  1894,  and  then  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Smead,  all  correspondence,  ceased.  In  Au- 
gust, 1896,  fully  a  year  after  the  cessation  of  corre- 
spondence, at  a  sitting  of  which  a  record  was  made 
at  the  time,  the  planchette  wrote  that  this  Miss  Maude 
L.  Janes  had  died  of  pneumonia,  that  she  had  died 
254 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

on  March  25th,  1896,  and  that  her  attending  physi- 
cian was  a  Dr.  St.  John.  This  purported  to  come 
direct  from  Maude  L.  Janes  herself.  Mr.  Smead 
wrote  to  the  mother  of  the  lady  to  know  if  Maude  was 
living  or  not,  and  learned  in  reply  that  she  had  died 
of  pneumonia  on  April  25th,  1896,  and  that  her 
physician  was  Dr.  St.  John.  She  had  also  mentioned 
the  place  of  her  burial,  but  the  statement  proved  on 
enquiry  to  be  incorrect. 

The  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  the  measures 
taken  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead  to  ascertain  whether 
the  "  communications  "  were  true  or  not,  seem  to  in- 
dicate that  the  knowledge  thus  gained  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  planchette  was  in  some  way 
supernormal.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  in  this  con- 
nection that  Miss  Janes,  in  a  conversation  with  Mrs. 
Smead  some  years  before,  had  remarked,  "  I'll  come 
to  you  when  I  die."  She  did  not  purport  to  com- 
municate again  until  February,  1901,  when  a  very 
pretty  series  of  "  messages  "  was  delivered,  one  of 
them  about  a  certain  little  boy  with  whom  she  had 
gone  to  school,  giving  his  name,  and  saying  that  he 
had  gone  to  New  Haven.  This  was  unknown  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Smead  and  proved  on  enquiry  to  be  correct. 
The  other  incidents  at  this  sitting,  all  well  calcu- 
lated to  prove  personal  identity,  were  known  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Smead.  These  were  the  death  of  several 
persons,  among  them  that  of  Maude  Janes'  mother, 
and  a  reference  to  a  singular  postal  card  which  this 
Maude  Janes  had  written  to  Mrs.  Smead,  explaining 
correctly  why  it  had  been  written  "  backwards." 
Later  she  named  her  teacher  previous  to  the  time  of 
255 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Mr.  Smead's  pastorate  in  the  place,  whom  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smead  had  never  known  and  whose  name  they 
did  not  know.  She  also  mentioned  a  visit  to  South 
Hadley,  Mass.,  about  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead 
knew  nothing  and  which,  on  enquiry,  proved  to  have 
been  correct.  At  a  later  sitting  she  attempted  to 
give  a  geometrical  demonstration  of  bisecting  an 
angle  and  some  other  problems,  and  though  she  was 
not  successful  in  making  it  clear,  the  figures  were 
rightly  drawn.  Now,  according  to  their  testimony, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead  never  knew  whether  Maude 
Janes  had  studied  geometry  or  not.  Mrs.  Smead 
knew  that  she  had  studied  algebra,  which  was  dur- 
ing the  last  year  of  Mr.  Smead's  pastorate  in  the 
place,  and  the  study  of  geometry  followed  a  year 
later  after  Mr.  Smead's  removal.  In  addition  Mrs. 
Smead  never  studied  geometry  and  never  knew  any- 
thing about  the  science,  not  enough  to  draw  the  fig- 
ure of  bisecting  an  angle.  What  might  have  inci- 
dentally come  across  her  knowledge  no  one  knows, 
but  the  testimony  in  this  case  is  against  secondary 
personality. 

On  another  occasion  the  "  communications  "  pur- 
ported to  come  from  a  Mr.  George  Morse.  He 
stated,  among  other  incidents  given  with  some  con- 
fusion, that  he  had  died  of  pneumonia,  that  his  wife 
was  still  living,  and  that  he  himself  had  been  a 
master  mason.  Mrs.  Smead  had  known  the  man 
many  years  before,  but  had  not  seen  or  heard  of  him 
for  seventeen  years;  never  knew  that  he  had  been 
a  master  mason,  as  this  was  only  during  the  last 
two  years  of  his  life,  and  did  not  know  that  his  wife 
256 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

was  living.  The  reference  to  pneumonia  was  wrong, 
as  he  died  of  paralysis.  All  of  these  facts  had  to 
be  verified  by  making  a  special  trip  to  Boston  to 
make  the  inquiries.  Mrs.  Smead  had  not  for  many 
years  been  in  the  part  of  Boston  in  which  Mr.  Morse 
lived,  except  to  ride  through  it  on  the  street  cars 
once  or  twice,  and  never  had  any  communications 
with  the  family  since  she  left  the  place  seventeen 
years  before. 

Another  "  communicator "  mentioned,  about  the 
same  time,  along  with  a  number  of  incidents  known 
to  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead,  one  fact  known  only 
to  Mr.  Smead.  When  asked  to  tell  something  to 
prove  his  identity  in  addition  to  giving  his  name  the 
planchette  wrote  the  following: 

"  I,  Burleigh  Hoyt,  told  this  brother,  when  I  was 
walking  with  him  in  the  driveway  at  the  back  of  his 
house  near  the  pump,  that  I  could  and  did  have  the 
power  or  gift  from  God  which  enabled  me  to  tell 
whether  the  place  which  was  selected  was  a  place  in 
which  the  water  supply  was  good  and  would  be  last- 
ing, and  I,  Burleigh  Hoyt,  write  this  to  prove  to 
anyone  who  may  doubt  my  good  pastor's  word  that 
it  is  and  was  B.  B.  Hoyt."  A  reference  to  an  insane 
son  and  the  troubles  of  his  wife  on  that  account  were 
characteristic  but  not  evidential. 

Another  instance  is  especially  interesting  for  its 
mixture  of  truth  and  error,  in  view  of  the  ignorance 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead  regarding  the  facts,  and  also 
because  its  confusion  resembles  some  cases  in  the 
Piper  phenomena.  A  "  communicator,"  whose  name 
I  could  not  decipher  in  the  original  automatic 
257 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

writing,  indicated,  nevertheless,  enough  to  lead  to 
the  discovery  of  her  identity.  My  attempt  at  de- 
ciphering the  name,  before  I  ascertained  who  it  might 
be,  ended  in  the  letters  "  Celelee."  But  she  finally 
gave  her  name  as  Mrs.  Stearns,  and  in  connection 
with  it  mentioned  Lowell  (Mass.)  and  then  the  name 
of  Robert  Russell  and  said  that  she  was  his  wife's 
sister.  She  then  said  that  she  and  her  father  wanted 
Mr.  Smead  to  thank  this  sister,  but  did  not  succeed  in 
telling  why  she  wanted  it  done. 

Now  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead  had  known  this  Robert 
Russell  and  his  wife  in  connection  with  some  religious 
work  four  or  five  years  previously,  and  learned  after 
this  sitting,  through  them,  that  the  deceased  sister 
was  a  Mrs.  Keliher  (possibly  the  name  intended  by 
"  Celelee  "  ) ,  whom  they  had  never  known.  Her  name 
was  not  Stearns,  but  inquiry  showed  that  her  husband 
worked  in  Stearns'  Manufacturing  Company  in  Law- 
rence, both  this  fact  and  his  person  being  entirely 
unknown  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead.  The  sister,  Mrs. 
Robert  Russell,  had  cared  for  the  father  during  his 
last  days  in  Lowell,  Mass.  It  is  interesting  to  re- 
mark also  that  Mrs.  Keliher  died  in  a  delirious  condi- 
tion, having  forgotten  her  name  and  identity,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  in  the  case.  The  circumstance 
has  its  analogies  in  the  Piper  record. 

Mr.  Smead's  brother  Sylvester,  who  was  killed  by 
a  railway  engine,  and  who  purported  to  participate 
in  the  Martian  "  communications,"  made  some  inter- 
esting replies  in  response  to  questions.  I  had  asked 
Mr.  Smead  to  test  him  in  an  appropriate  way,  and 
this  was  done.  He  was  first  asked  to  give  the  name 
258 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

of  his  lady-love,  as  Mr.  Smead  did  not  know  cer- 
tainly who  this  was,  and  the  reply  was  "  Evelyn," 
which  turned  out  correct,  and  was  not  known  to  Mrs. 
Smead  so  far  as  her  recollection  goes.  Then  he  was 
asked  to  give  the  name  of  another  lady  who  had 
worked  in  a  certain  foundry,  and  the  planchette 
wrote,  "  Grace  Cregg,"  Grace  Craig  being  the  cor- 
rect name,  also  unknown  to  Mrs.  Smead.  He  was 
then  asked  to  name  the  station  agent  at  a  certain 
place,  and  this  was  done  in  the  confused  forms, 
"  Hwtt,  Hwett,  Hewitt."  The  correct  name  was 
"  Hoit."  This  name  was  entirely  unknown  to  Mrs. 
Smead.  At  this  point  Sylvester  began  to  tease  his 
brother  about  the  "  communications  "  being  the  re- 
sult of  Mrs.  Smead's  secondary  personality,  Mr. 
Smead  having  told  Harrison  Clarke  that  he  was  no 
veritable  spirit  but  a  secondary  personality.  Then 
he  was  asked  for  another  test,  which  was  that  he 
should  name  the  man  who  had  once  chased  the  two 
brothers  when  they  were  playing  tick-tack  together 
as  boys.  He  gave  this  correctly  as  Roberts,  the 
name  and  incidents  being  unknown  to  Mrs.  Smead,  so 
far  as  she  can  recollect.  As  I  had  arranged  that 
Mrs.  Smead  should  come  to  New  York  for  experi- 
mentation, as  above  indicated,  Mr.  Smead  asked  his 
brother  Sylvester  to  accompany  her  thither.  He 
promised  to  do  so,  and  said :  "  You  won't  be  afraid 
now,  Billy,  with  me."  Before  Mr.  Smead's  marriage 
his  brother  used  to  tease  him  by  exciting  his  jealousy, 
until  Mr.  Smead  would  fear  that  his  brother  might 
marry  the  present  Mrs.  Smead.  After  this  episode 
Mr.    Smead   again   asked   him   to   give  the  name  of 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

his  lady-love,  and  received  the  answer :  "  Evelyn 
Sargent."  Mr.  Smead  did  not  know  what  her  name 
was,  but  from  a  poem  found  in  the  pocket  of  his 
brother  after  the  hitter's  death  he  suspected  that  it 
was  "  Evelyn,"  as  the  poem  was  dedicated  to  some- 
one of  that  name.  When  he  asked  the  question  of  his 
brother  he  had  in  mind  three  persons  whom  he 
thought  possible  candidates.  One  of  them  was 
named  Minnie  Sargent.  It  was  thus  interesting  to 
find  the  name  Sargent  added  to  that  of  Evelyn. 
Inquiry,  however,  showed  that  the  correct  name  was 
"  Evelyn  Hamel."  Mrs.  Smead,  of  course,  never 
knew  any  of  the  facts.  The  incident  is  amenable  to 
the  suspicion  of  being  telepathic  in  part  at  least,  if 
we  admit  the  supernormal  at  all,  though  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Smead  generally  had  his  own  hand  also  on  the 
planchette  might  suggest  its  origin  in  his  own  sec- 
ondary personality. 

There  were  some  interesting  incidents  "  communi- 
cated "  by  a  Mr.  Miller,  who  was  also  a  relative  of 
Mr.  Smead,  but  it  would  extend  this  paper  to  an  un- 
due length  to  repeat  and  explain  them.  I  could  also 
mention  quite  a  number  of  others  were  it  not  for  the 
same  reason.  There  were  several  alleged  "  com- 
municators "  whose  identity  could  not  be  traced, 
though  they  gave  their  names.  There  was,  however, 
too  little  collateral  evidence  to  enable  us  to  make  any 
investigation  as  to  identity.  One,  a  Rev.  Henry 
Smith,  who  said  he  had  lived  in  Saco,  Maine,  and  who 
gave  a  number  of  specific  details,  well  calculated  to 
establish  his  identity,  was  found  to  have  been  wholly 
wrong  in  regard  to  them.  In  fact,  it  was  noticeable 
260 


THE    SMEAD    CASH 

all  through  the  experiments  that  where  the  "  com- 
municators "  were  unknown  to  Mrs.  Smead  at  any 
time  in  her  life,  the  "  messages  "  were  exceedingly 
meager  and  confused,  so  that  even  the  simulation  of 
spiritistic  material  was  imperfect. 

Some  later  incidents  have  occurred  which  may  be 
of  interest.  The  experiments  have  been  continued 
and  the  record  kept  as  before.  The  same  mixed  fea- 
tures exhibit  themselves  in  the  case,  leaving  the  stu- 
dent without  conclusive  evidence  in  favor  of  any  one 
interpretation,  but  it  is  still  a  most  instructive  case  on 
any  theory  whatsoever. 

In  the  summer  of  1901  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead  lost 
a  little  son  very  suddenly,  apparently  from  some  sort 
of  poisoning.  About  two  weeks  after  his  death  he 
apparently  returned  as  a  "  communicator  "  through 
his  mother.  Nearly  all  the  incidents  which  were 
given  to  establish  his  identity  were  known  to  his 
mother,  as  would  be  a  matter  of  course.  But  there 
were  two  that  were  not  so  known  and  which  are  worth 
mentioning. 

When  Mrs.  Smead  came  to  New  York  for  experi- 
ments with  me  Mr.  Smead  and  the  little  boy  kept 
house.  During  this  time  Mr.  Smead  and  the  little 
boy  went  to  another  city  by  train.  This  incident  was 
mentioned  in  the  "  communications,"  and  allusion 
made  to  his  having  gone  on  an  "  express  "  train  on 
that  trip,  and  also  to  his  night-dress  and  to  a  pair  of 
mittens  worn  then.  Now  there  was  no  express  train 
on  the  railroad  by  which  the  two  went,  but  it  seems 
that  on  the  trip  the  little  boy  was  very  much  pleased 
261 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

by  the  ride  and,  alluding  to  his  own  toy  cars  at  home, 
spoke  of  those  by  which  he  was  traveling  as  an 
"  express  train."  This  fact  was  not  known  to  his 
mother,  but  only  the  fact  that  he  had  made  the  trip. 
Something,  of  course,  might  have  been  said  about  it 
by  the  boy  in  the  presence  of  the  mother  and  then 
the  incident  forgotten  by  her.  But  she  does  not  re- 
member it. 

In  one  of  his  "  communications  "  this  boy  referred 
to  a  little  trunk  that  his  brother  George  had  given 
him  a  short  time  before  he  died.  He  indicated  that 
he  had  asked  his  brother  for  it  and  that  his  brother 
had  gone  across  the  room  and  got  it  for  him.  Mr. 
Smead  cross-questioned  the  living  brother  without 
putting  leading  questions,  and  found  that  while  he 
himself  and  Mrs.  Smead  were  out  of  the  room,  the 
day  before  the  boy  died,  this  little  brother  had  been 
asked  to  bring  the  box  or  trunk  to  the  sick  child  and 
had  done  it  precisely  as  described  at  the  sitting. 

A  feature  of  the  automatic  writing  bearing  on  the 
identity  of  the  boy  is  of  some  interest.  It  was  very 
characteristic  of  the  boy  that  he  wrote  in  capitals 
while  living.  That  is,  it  was  a  habit  of  his  fre- 
quently to  do  so.  In  the  earlier  "  communications  " 
purporting  to  come  from  him  most  of  the  writing  was 
in  capitals.  When  he  first  appeared  the  writing  was 
about  evenly  divided  between  the  ordinary  script  and 
capitals,  but  it  was  noticeable  that  he  was  often  ap- 
parently assisted  by  his  deceased  sister.  But  as  he 
came  to  be  able  to  act  without  help  the  use  of  capitals 
diminished,  until  they  finally  disappeared  and  the 
ordinary  script  returned  in  all  his  "  communications." 
262 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

Of  course  this  habit  was  known  to  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smead. 

There  have  been  many  other  alleged  communicators 
who  have  given  interesting  incidents  in  proof  of  iden- 
tity. But  these  incidents  are  either  so  well  known 
to  Mrs.  Smead  or  so  mixed  up  with  what  she  certainly 
did  know,  and  are  so  complicated  that  I  cannot  ven- 
ture in  a  short  summary  like  this  to  detail  them. 
They  have  a  most  striking  bearing,  however,  on  the 
theory  of  secondary  personality,  especially  as  in  some 
of  them  there  is  exhibited  something  of  the  dramatic 
play  of  personality  which  is  so  impressive  a  feature 
of  the  Piper  phenomena. 

THE    APPARITION    OF    AUNT    SARAH. 

I  must,  however,  narrate  one  experience,  and  an 
experiment  connected  with  it,  which  has  some  interest 
to  the  psychical  researcher,  even  though  we  cannot 
consider  it  as  proving  anything. 

On  the  evening  of  September  27th,  1901,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smead  had  a  sitting,  and  the  names  of  George 
Lowrey  and  George  Smead  were  given,  and  an  ap- 
parent attempt  was  made  to  "  communicate  "  some- 
thing. The  George  Lowrey  mentioned  was  deceased, 
the  fact  being  known  to  the  Smeads.  He  was  an 
uncle  of  Mrs.  Smead.  The  possible  and  apparent 
significance  of  the  name  may  be  connected  with  the 
following  experience,  which  followed  closely  upon  the 
sitting  to  which  I  have  just  referred.  The  same 
night,  September  27th,  Mrs.  Smead  had  a  vision.  I 
give  her  account  of  it. 

263 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

"  I  had  been  for  a  ride  Friday  afternoon  and  was 
very  tired,  so  could  not  sleep  very  well  during  the  first 
part  of  the  night.  About  midnight  I  awoke  with  my 
right  arm  so  painful  that  I  could  not  move  it  from 
the  wrist.  I  turned  over  to  the  left  of  the  room  and 
thought  that  it  was  very  lonely  without  Cecil  (the 
deceased  son),  and  how  much  I  would  like  to  see  him, 
if  only  for  a  few  moments,  when  there  was  a  loud  rap 
in  his  room  and  another  near  me  on  the  floor.  I 
looked  towards  the  spot  where  the  rap  came  from, 
when  I  saw  a  vision  of  an  elderly  lady.  This  vision 
was  different  from  any  that  I  had  seen  before.  It 
looked  very  ghostly.  It  had  snowy  white  hair  and 
wore  a  white  gown.  The  hands  and  face  were  very 
white,  so  much  so  that  I  looked  very  steadily  at  it  to 
be  sure  that  I  was  not  mistaken.  I  thought  that,  per- 
haps, the  lady  we  had  seen  that  afternoon  had  died. 
This  was  not  true.  This  person  that  I  saw  was  very 
old  and  I  was  so  much  surprised  at  the  difference  in 
her  appearance  from  those  that  I  have  seen  before 
that  when  morning  came  I  at  once  told  my  husband 
what  I  had  seen.  He  told  me  to  write  it  out  at  once. 
I  said  that  I  did  not  wish  to  do  so,  because  it  was  so 
ghostly  that  I  did  not  like  to  think  of  it." 

Mr.  Smead  confirms  the  fact  of  having  been  told 
the  narrative  on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  and  the 
vision  was  soon  afterwards  written  down  as  described. 
This  was  on  September  30th. 

On  the  morning  of  September  30th  they  received 
a  letter  from  a  relative  dated  the  same  day,  saying 
that  an  Aunt  Sarah,  aunt  of  Mrs.  Smead,  and  living 
in  Baltimore,  some  five  hundred  miles  distant,  had 
died.  Further  enquiry  showed  that  she  had  died  on 
264 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

September  26th,  the  day  before  the  sitting  in  which 
the  name  of  George  Lowrey,  who  was  a  nephew  of 
this  aunt,  was  mentioned.  Enquiry  also  showed  that 
Mrs.  Smead  had  never  seen  this  aunt.  I  obtained 
the  written  testimony  of  another  person  that  this  was 
the  fact,  not  accepting  as  conclusive  the  testimony  of 
Mrs.  Smead.  But  as  soon  as  I  learned  this  fact  I 
asked  Mr.  Smead  in  a  private  letter,  which  Mrs. 
Smead  was  not  to  see,  and  which  he  reports  that  she 
did  not  see,  the  letter  having  been  destroyed  imme- 
diately, according  to  my  request,  to  obtain  a  photo- 
graph of  this  deceased  aunt  and  put  it  with  a  num- 
ber of  others  as  much  like  it  as  possible,  and  observe 
if  Mrs.  Smead  spontaneously  discovered  the  one  rep- 
resenting this  aunt.  The  following  is  the  result  of 
the  experiment,  which  took  some  months  to  arrange: 

"  I  put  the  photo  that  I  got  from  Baltimore  in  the 
midst  of  a  lot  of  others,  over  fifty  of  them,  and  after 
an  hour  of  so  had  elapsed  I  brought  the  whole  lot 
downstairs,  began  to  talk  of  some  of  her  girl  friends, 
told  her  I  wanted  to  see  if  she  could  find  me  the  pic- 
ture of  Lottie  Dudley  that  she  knew  was  dead,  and 
asked  her  to  see  if  she  knew  who  Annie  Hedengran 
was  in  the  lot  of  pictures  and  named  over  two  or 
three  others,  so  that  she  thought  that  some  of  those 
that  I  named  were  dead,  or  had  died  recently,  and  that 
my  point  was  to  see  if  she  could  find  the  pictures.  I 
fooled  her  completely  and  threw  her  off  her  guard  as 
to  aunt  Sarah.  So  she  went  along  looking  at  the 
photos  and  talked  of  this  one  and  that  one  of  her  girl 
friends.  Some  she  was  sure  were  living,  others  she 
knew  were  dead,  and  others  she  thought  might  pos- 
sibly be  dead,  thinking  all  the  while  that  I  was  driving 
265 


PSYCHICAL   RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

at  that,  to  see  if  she  would  pick  out  the  photo  of  this 
dead  girl  friend,  when  by  and  by  she  came  at  once 
upon  this  photo  of  aunt  Sarah.  She  was  greatly 
shocked,  looked  at  me,  knew  it  at  once  and  recognized 
the  face,  said  the  face  she  saw  (in  the  vision)  had  no 
glasses,  the  hair  was  crimped  as  in  the  photo,  but 
natter  on  the  forehead.  She  had  a  white  dress  when 
Mrs.  Smead  saw  her  (in  the  vision)  and  was  not  quite 
as  fleshy  as  the  photo  would  indicate.  The  recogni- 
tion was  absolute.  I  then  took  another  tack.  I  told 
her  she  was  too  sure,  that  it  was  all  nonsense  for  her 
to  be  so  positive,  that  I  might  have  got  a  picture  of 
some  other  woman  and  put  it  there  to  make  her  think 
it  was  the  one  she  saw  and  kept  back  the  real  picture, 
if  I  had  it,  and  that  I  was  trying  to  fool  her,  etc.,  etc. 
It  was  all  no  use.  She  was  sure  and  positive.  The 
identification  was  complete.  I  had  to  give  it  up.  So 
I  then  told  her  that  it  was  the  photo.  She  had  never 
seen  a  photo  of  her  before.  This  picture  was  the  last 
one  taken  before  her  death." 

I  can  only  give  this  for  what  it  is  worth.  It  is  not 
complex  enough  in  its  incidents  to  prove  anything  by 
itself,  but  it  has  a  coincidental  interest  which  may  be 
worthy  of  record  along  with  other  matter. 

There  are  some  recent  developments  of  interest  in 
this  case.  They  are,  at  least,  a  simulation  of  the 
Imperator  phenomena  in  the  Piper  case.  As  no  evi- 
dential incidents  have  occurred  to  show  the  presence 
and  influence  of  this  group  of  personalities  the  facts 
need  not  be  further  mentioned. 

Comments  on  this  interesting  case,  I  think,  may  be 
very  brief.  Enough  has  been  given  in  my  narrative 
to  show  that,  on  any  theory  whatsoever  of  such  phe- 
266 


THE    SMEAD    CASE 

nomena,  the  present  case  is  intermediate  between  that 
of  M.  Floumoy's  Helene  Smith  and  Mrs.  Piper.  In 
fact  it  may  be  called  a  case  on  the  border-line  be- 
tween secondary  personality  and  spiritistic  phenom- 
ena. Mrs.  Piper's  phenomena  are  in  many  respects 
unique.  M.  Flournoy's  case  is  a  most  remark- 
able instance  of  secondary  personalities  masquerad- 
ing as  spirits.*  The  case  of  Mrs.  Smead  began,  as 
the  record  shows,  in  the  most  naive  secondary  person- 
ality and  ended  in  the  production  of  phenomena  much 
like  those  of  Mrs.  Piper,  showing  a  gradual  devel- 
opment from  the  purely  secondary  consciousness  to 
what  might  possibly  be  complicated  with  occasional 
spiritistic  messages.  The  difficulty  with  a  spiritistic 
theory  in  this  case  is  (1)  that  there  is  obviously  so 
much  secondary  personality  in  it  as  to  create  suspi- 
cion regarding  the  remainder,  and  (2)  that  the  ap- 
parently supernormal  incidents  depend  too  much 
upon  the  memories  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead,  while  the 
Piper  case  presents  conditions  in  which  it  is  incon- 
ceivable or  impossible  to  suppose  that  she  gets  her 
information  in  any  normal  way.  But  if  we  can  sup- 
pose that  the  Smead  case  contains  a  few  spiritistic 
episodes  (and  there  are  some  possibilities  of  this)  we 
have  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  part  which 
secondary  personality  may  play  in  the  development 
of  mediumistic  powers. 

*  Since  the  original  publication  of  this  paper  in  the  Annals 
of  Psychical  Science  some  very  important  experiments  have 
been  made  with  Mrs.  Smead  and  the  results  show  the  existence 
of  genuinely  supernormal  phenomena  beyond  any  question 
whatever.  Whatever  hesitation  the  present  paper  may  show 
is  removed  by  these  later  experiments. 

267 


CHAPTER  IX 

SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

Readers  of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  may  recall  some  discussion 
regarding  the  nature  of  the  life  after  death.  It  may 
be  useful  to  give  a  concrete  example  of  the  difficul- 
ties with  which  we  have  to  contend  in  the  solution  of 
problems  connected  therewith,  and  hence  I  give  the 
detailed  record  of  a  sitting  with  Mrs.  Smead.  I 
have  published  also  a  preliminary  Report  on  the 
Smead  case  which  gives  evidence  of  the  supernormal 
and  shows  its  exemption  from  the  most  natural  sus- 
picions entertained  against  mediumship.  Suffice  it 
to  say  here  that  Mrs.  Smead  is  the  wife  of  an  ortho- 
dox clergyman  and  has  never  received  any  money  for 
her  work.  Her  identity  has  to  be  concealed  under 
the  name  which  I  have  given,  and  other  experiments 
than  the  one  I  am  quoting  will  have  to  be  relied  on 
to  answer  the  doubts  of  the  sceptic.  I  am  using  the 
present  record  with  the  assumption  that  his  objec- 
tions have  already  been  removed,  so  that  I  do  not 
mean  to  discuss  the  genuineness  of  the  phenomena  in 
this  connection.  I  wish  to  take  this  for  granted,  at 
least  hypothetically,  for  the  sake  of  an  important 
illustration  in  the  perplexities  of  non-evidential  phe- 
nomena. 

Some  years  ago  in  the  experiments  which  Mr. 
Smead  was  conducting  under  my  directions,  there 
268 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MIlDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

were  apparently  some  attempts  on  the  part  of  the 
Rev.  Stainton  Moses,  who  died  in  1892  in  England, 
to  communicate  through  Mrs.  Smead.  But  the  fail- 
ure seems  to  have  been  as  conspicuous  as  in  the  case 
of  Mrs.  Piper.  Occasionally,  however,  there  are 
traces  of  his  personality  attempting  to  manifest  itself, 
and  the  record  below  is  one  of  them.  Mr.  Smead 
was  not  expecting  this  personality  to  appear  at  this 
experiment,  but  rather  hoped  for  one  who  passes  as 
the  Cardinal.  The  manifestation  of  Stainton  Moses 
was  thus  unexpected  by  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead. 
I  give  the  record  in  full,  confusions  and  mistakes  ex- 
actly as  they  occurred. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  I  am  not 
quoting  the  record  in  illustration  of  what  it  actually 
purports  to  be,  namely,  spirit  communications.  Any 
reader  who  wishes  to  so  interpret  the  matter  may  do 
so,  but  it  is  not  assumed  by  me  to  be  this  in  fact.  I 
concede  any  interpretation  that  the  sceptic  may  choose 
to  make  of  it,  except  that  of  conscious  fraud.  The 
student  of  abnormal  psychology  will  see  nothing  more 
in  it  than  secondary  personality,  and  in  so  far  as 
conclusive  evidence  is  concerned  it  cannot  be  claimed 
to  be  anything  else.  But  I  mean  to  quote  it  and  to 
consider  it  as  a  psychological  production  which  has 
to  be  examined  without  regard  to  the  security  of  its 
claims  to  be  what  it  superficially  purports  to  be. 
Coming,  as  it  does,  in  conjunction  with  matter  that 
has  the  same  claim  to  being  supernormal  as  in  the 
case  of  numerous  similar  cases,  it  becomes  a  part  of 
the  problem  which  is  associated  with  the  supernor- 
mal. For  that  reason  we  may  examine  its  nature 
269 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

and  claims  in  spite  of  the  natural  temptation  to 
ascribe  it  the  same  source  as  the  evidential  matter. 
The  primary  interest  is  to  study  the  problem  which 
the  psychic  researcher  has  before  him,  when  estimat- 
ing the  claims  of  strictly  non-evidential  matter  to  a 
supernormal  origin.  All  that  is  assured  at  the  out- 
set is  the  fact  that  the  record  was  automatically  pro- 
duced and  purports  to  have  a  spiritistic  source. 
What  its  rights  are  to  this  claim  will  have  to  be  ex- 
amined, but  regardless  of  these  it  has  considerable 
psychological  interest  in  illustration  of  the  large  lit- 
erature presenting  similar  superficial  credentials. 

The  record  is  a  recent  one,  being  dated  February 
6th,  1907.  I  place  in  parentheses  what  Mr.  Smead 
said  or  asked  during  the  experiment  and  as  reported 
by  him.  In  square  brackets  I  place  such  comments 
and  explantory  notes  as  were  necessary  afterward  to 
explain  the  meaning  of  the  record  at  specific  points. 
Asterisks  mean  that  certain  words  or  passages  of  the 
automatic  writing  are  not  legible. 


February  6th,  1907. 

Present  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smead. 

(All  ready.) 

That  is  right.     We  are  here,  coming  here. 

(AU  right.) 

coming  nearer,  yes.     it  is  I  be  not  afraid. 

(Very  good.     The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
be  with  thy  spirit. ) 

[Mr.  Smead  thought  he  was  addressing  Cardinal 
L.  but  this  was  not  accepted  by  the  communicator.] 
270 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

Behold  ye  him.  it  is  Him  of  whom  and  to  whom 
thou  speakest. 

(Is  Jesus  Christ  present  this  morning?) 

I  am  with  ye  in  thy  endeavor  to  do  the  work  of 
Him  that  chooses  thee,  th  ['  th  '  evidently  written  to 
convert  '  chooses  '  into  '  chooseth.'] 

(Who  is  writing?  Is  it  my  Lord  and  Master, 
Jesus  Christ?) 

He  speaks  with  thee  friend,  through  another. 

(I  am  delighted.  What  has  he  to  say  to  me.  I 
am  unworthy  to  be  in  his  presence. ) 

were  that  so,  would  he  come  to  thee,  hast  thou  not 
yet  learned  that  he  was  not  a  respector  of  persons, 
that  all  were  equal  in  His  sight  that  believed. 

(I  feel  as  did  St.  Thomas  when  he  said:  'My 
Lord  and  my  God.') 

but  there  are  many  that  do  not  understand  his  His 
['  His  '  superposed  on  the  first  to  erase  it.]  teachings 
that  now  he  is  helping  to  enlighten  the  mind  of  man- 
kind through  these  Earthly  channels,  its  [it]  is 
right  for  them  to  be  opened  to  the  earth. 

(What  has  he  to  say  to  me?) 

Come.  .  .  [pause.]  That  he  is  and  was  the  creator 
of  the  new  Law,  yes,  and  that  all  should  strive  to 
come  by  the  natural  way  into  this  life  here  and 
do  as  near  the  way  as  he  taught  when  on  earth,  it 
is  a  sorrowful  thing  to  es.  .  .  ['  es  '  erased]  behold 
the  souls  of  those  that  [are]  on  the  earth  singing 
praises  to  Him  and  then  taking  the  ways  of  life  into 
their  own  hands,  it  is  not  as  he  said  to  do,  and  they 
are  not  taught  to  Honor  the  Father  enough,  else  they 
would  value  life  more,  so  the  error  in  is  in  the  way 
the  teachings  are  set  forth  to  the  people  of  the 
earth,  they  do  not  understand  that  if  they  come  here 
under  a  delusion  that  thev  are  escaping  the  wrath  of 
271 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  most  high,  that  it  can  continue  here,  that  if  it  so 
Pleases  the  Greater  Light  they  must  continue  the  self 
same  existence  as  they  have  just  left  and  that  by 
*  *  *  *  they  must  perhaps  for  ages  continue 
where  they  could  only  have  remained  in  the  true  light 
there  and  done  their  just  and  right  part  of  life  on 
the  earth  to  be  able  to  enter  into  the  pleasure  of  a 
better  life,  that  is  eternal  punishment. 

(Does  eternal  punishment  continue  forever?) 
it  continues  until  they  can  by  pleading  [with]  and 
Honoring  the  Most  High  God  the  Father  .  .  .  plead- 
ing with  Him,  I  should  have  said  .  .  .  then,  if  in  his 
good  pleasure  he  deems  it  just  that  they  are  alowed 
[allowed]  to  go  a  little  higher,  but  it  sometimes  takes 
them  ages,  it  is  as  their  deeds,  so  their  reward  or 
punishment,  the  part  of  eternal  punishment  is  with 
the  soul  of  the  one  that  has  disobeyed  the  Father, 
no  creeds  can  help  it  after  these  deeds  are  done,  the 
soul  must  then  help  itself. 

(Cannot  we  Episcopalians  escape  punishment  by 
believing  in  Christ?) 

not  from  eternal  punishment  of  the  way  you  under- 
stand it. 

(I  do  not  understand.  Please  explain.) 
*  *  [they?]  the  very  soul  that  enters  this  life 
has  to  begin  to  work  and  help  itself  [written  '  itseff  '] 
for  a  higher  existence,  the  life  here  nearest  yours  is 
what  St.  Paul  said  was  the  first  heaven,  they  must 
that  have  lied,  stolen,  or  comited  [committed]  any 
of  the  Greater  sin  ...  .  greater  sins  .  .  .  must  remain 
in  this  abode  until  he  has  well  purged  himself  of 
them  by  prayed  to  the  f  .  .  .  Father,  then  if  he  has 
not  thought  to  do  them  again  he  may  be  allowed  to 
go  to  the  Second  higher  abode  and  so  as  you  may  see 
his  punishment  may  continue  for  ages. 
272 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

(I  supposed  that  belief  in  Christ  gave  everlasting 
life,  not  everlasting  punishment.  Tell  me  about 
this.) 

he  did  not  say  everlasting  life  without  punish- 
ment, so  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  .  .  .  what  did  I 
just  tell  you.  [Above  message  read  aloud  to  com- 
municator.] for  the  deeds,  yes. 

( I  think  you  are  right. ) 

but  the  souls  that  continue  on  the  earth  to  live 
righteous  and  Godly  lives,  doing  in  the  ['  in  the ' 
erased]  as  in  the  presence  of  God  will  receive  a  greater 
blessing,  when  entering  this  life  they  do  not  need 
to  remain  on  the  ['  the  '  erased]  earthwise,  but  can 
gonne  [go  on]  doing  good  work  amongst  the  souls 
that  are  near  the  earth  as  He  did  when  he  entered  this 
life,     we  are  tested,  yes. 

(Do  I  understand  that  Christ  is  Imperator,  called 
by  Robert  Hyslop  the  Greater  Light?)  [Robert 
Hyslop  is  the  name  of  my  father  and  purports  to  com- 
municate through  Mrs.  Smead  at  times.  Imperator  is 
the  assumed  name  of  one  of  the  trance  personalities 
in  the  Piper  case.] 

I  would  that  thou,  friend,  could  see  Him. 

(Do  you  mean  Christ  or  Imperator,  the  Greater 
Light?)   _ 

Christ  is  a  light  and  was  one  on  the  Earth. 

(Is  Christ  Imperator,  the  Greater  Light?) 

[Sign  of  the  cross  drawn,  which  is  the  sign  of  Im- 
perator] we  could  not  let  the  cardinal  come  this  time, 
as  you  see,  friend,  a  greater  than  he  has  been  with 
you  ['  you  '  erased]  us,  yes,  and  so  we  will  have  him 
after  the  Sabbath. 

(Who  has  been  with  me  to-day?) 

yes,  Jesus  Christus,  yes.     He  has  been  here  adn 
['  adn  '  erased]  and  do  you  doubt. 
273 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

(How  can  I  help  doubting?  Whom  did  he  talk 
through?) 

S.  M.  is  willing  to  be  an  interpreter  at  all  times. 

(Did  Christ  talk  through  Stainton  Moses?) 

You  still  doubt. 

(Did  Christ  talk  to  me  through  Stainton  Moses?) 

I  told  you  at  the  beginning,  yes,  he  did  so.  We 
cannot  tell  the  [thee]  when  the  friend  that  came  yes- 
terday can  come  again,  as  she  exhausts  the  Light  to 
its  extreme. 

( Shall  I  expect  the  Cardinal  the  first  day  after  the 
Sabbath?) 

yes,  no,  no  one  [on]  the  first. 

(Shall  I  sit  that  day?) 

yes,  but  no  one  to  talk  yet. 

(All  right.  We  shall  hold  sittings  next  week  as 
usual. ) 

yes,  we  cannot  tell  the  [thee]  now.  Oh  Most 
Merciful  Father  we  halve  [have]  try  .  .  .  [erased] 
tried  in  our  humble  way  to  do  t .  .  .  Thy  will,  grant 
us   th .  . .   Th,  blessing  for  thee,   friend,  this   day, 


The  sitting  at  this  point  came  to  an  end.  But 
Mrs.  Smead,  when  she  recovered  consciousness,  re- 
ported an  interesting  vision  which  was  described  as 
follows :  — 

"  A  man  tall,  features  clear  cut,  as  if  cut  from 
stone  like  a  model,  dark  hair,  peculiar  color  or  com- 
plexion, full  beard  and  mustache,  beard  about  eight 
inches  in  length,  hair  long  and  curly,  hanging  over 
his  shoulders,  hair  parted  on  left  side  and  fell  over 
toward  the  right  side.  His  face  was  beautiful  and 
stately.  He  looked  quiet  and  peaceful  with  majestic 
274 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

bearing.     He  wore  long  white  robes.     The  cross  was 
not  with  him,  but  was  seen  some  distance  off." 

Mrs.  Smead  took  this  apparition  to  be  that  of 
Christ.  The  description  might  very  well  represent 
the  historical  pictures  of  him.  But  Mr.  Smead  does 
not,  and  did  not  at  the  time,  in  spite  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  record,  believe  that  he  was  in  communica- 
tion with  the  Savior.  He  supposed  that  it  was  a 
sermon  to  him  by  Stainton  Moses. 

There  are  three  ways  in  which  we  can  explain 
such  phenomena.  (1)  We  may  say  that  it  is  con- 
scious pretension  that  a  spirit  is  producing  the  re- 
sult; (2)  we  may  call  it  secondary  personality;  (3) 
we  may  say  that  it  is  what  it  claims  to  be  on  the 
face  of  it,  namely,  messages  from  the  deceased  Stain- 
ton  Moses,  under  the  hallucination  that  he  is  acting 
as  an  intermediary  for  the  Savior. 

I  throw  the  first  of  these  hypotheses  out  of  account, 
not  because  it  is  always  to  be  ignored,  but  because 
I  have  reasons  independently  of  this  particular  rec- 
ord to  neglect  it.  The  mistakes  and  confusions,  as 
well  as  occasional  errors  in  the  spelling  which  are 
not  natural  to  Mrs.  Smead  in  her  normal  state,  and 
various  mechanical  features  of  the  writing  tend  to 
justify  our  disregarding  conscious  effort  to  deceive. 
I  say  nothing  of  its  incompatibility  with  her  whole 
previous  life  and  what  I  know  of  its  earnestness. 
Disregarding  it  we  must  construct  some  theory  which 
rationally  explains  the  phenomena,  and  we  have  the 
other  two  hypotheses  to  reckon  with  in  this  attempt. 

Secondary  personality,  or  unconscious  impersona- 
lly 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tion,  such  as  is  common  to  dream  or  somnambulic 
states,  presents  itself  as  the  most  likely  view,  at 
least  on  a  priori  grounds,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  student  of  psychology  would  feel  perfectly  as- 
sured of  its  applicability  and  validity.  There  is 
certainly  no  apparent  evidence  of  a  spiritistic  source, 
at  least  as  judged  by  the  standards  which  such  a 
theory  must  adopt  in  the  present  status  of  that  doc- 
trine. It  is  precisely  this  want  of  supernormal  evi- 
dence on  the  face  of  the  phenomena  that  makes  all 
attempts  at  spiritistic  explanations  seem  absurd. 
This  would  leave  us  with  the  alternative  of  secondary 
personality  as  the  only  explanation  which  would  most 
naturally  commend  itself. 

But  accept  the  hypothesis  as  satisfactory  on  a 
priori  ground,  have  we  any  more  evidence  that  it  is 
the  true  one  than  we  have  of  the  spiritistic?  The 
phenomena  are  undoubtedly  similar  to  many  that 
present  the  claim  of  a  spiritistic  source  and  receive 
the  credence  of  it.  But  it  is  precisely  the  defect 
of  proper  evidence  that  makes  this  view  incredible, 
and  the  most  natural  theory  would  be  that  of  sub- 
conscious impersonation. 

A  most  interesting  circumstance  in  the  phenomena 
is  that  which  shows  a  fairly  rational  view  of  pun- 
ishment for  sin.  The  "  communications  "  purport 
to  represent  the  policy  of  nature  or  Providence  with 
regard  to  sin,  and  this  is  that  true  punishment  is 
the  consequence  of  sin  and  not  some  artificial  penalty 
such  as  we  have  been  accustomed  to  believe.  The 
representation  is  that  of  conditions  in  another  life 
and  of  what  many  wish  to  know  regarding  it.    More- 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

over  it  is  also  important  to  remark  to  the  man  who 
advances  secondary  personality  as  the  explanation 
that  the  type  of  punishment  here  defended  is  not 
the  one  which  Mrs.  Smead's  theology  has  held.  The 
idea  is  comparatively  new  to  her  mind.  She  would 
not  naturally  accept  this  view  from  her  early  teach- 
ing. Her  theology  makes  a  very  different  account 
of  punishment  for  sin,  and  if  her  subliminal  action  is 
producing  the  results  of  her  previous  experience  it 
would  hardly  take  the  course  here  manifest.  Appar- 
ently, then,  the  hypothesis  of  secondary  personality 
has  difficulty   in  maintaining  itself. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  many  will  prefer  the  spirit- 
istic theory  to  account  for  the  phenomena  and  so 
would  accept  them  on  their  own  certificate  of  non- 
relation  to  Mrs.  Smead's  usual  habits  of  thought. 
But  there  are  two  very  important  facts  in  the  record 
itself  which  the  student  of  psychology  will  detect 
at  sight  and  which  afford  him  a  perfectly  good  ex- 
cuse for  referring  the  phenomena  to  secondary  per- 
sonality. The  first  of  these  facts  is  the  vision  at  the 
end  of  the  experiment.  That  apparition  is  the  his- 
torical representation  of  Christ  and  can  most  easily 
be  explained  by  supposing  that  the  general  drift 
of  the  thought  during  the  sitting  might  easily  sug- 
gest such  a  thing  to  Mrs.  Smead's  mind.  The  sec- 
ond and  still  more  important  fact  is  Mr.  Smead's 
own  unwary  statement  to  the  "  communicator  "  ear- 
lier in  the  experiment.  When  he,  assuming  that  he 
was  talking  to  the  Cardinal,  exclaimed  "  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  thy  spirit,"  he 
gave  a  most  distinct  suggestion  to  Mrs.  Smead's 
277 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

subliminal  mental  action,  and  we  may  assume  that  the 
whole  impersonation  of  Christ  was  due  entirely  to 
that  suggestion,  and  that  the  vision  at  the  terminus 
of  it  was  the  result  of  its  momentum  as  she  was  re- 
covering consciousness. 

Here  the  scientific  man  would  say  is  the  advantage 
of  a  verbatim  record  of  all  that  occurs  on  such  occa- 
sions. In  all  ordinary  experiments  a  memory  report 
of  what  was  received  would  be  all  that  we  should  have 
to  base  our  judgment  upon,  and  unless  we  were 
familiar  with  the  delicate  influences  which  suggestion 
exercises  we  should  hardly  remember  our  giving  rise 
to  productions  like  this  by  some  casual  remark  of 
our  own.  We  have,  therefore,  in  this  record  the 
superficial  indication  at  least  of  a  perfectly  normal 
explanation  of  the  phenomena,  especially  when  we 
recognize  the  dramatic  character  of  some  of  our 
dream  life.  Our  dreams  often  represent  the  pres- 
ence and  conversation  with  us  of  various  personali- 
ties living  or  dead,  and  as  that  state  is  extremely 
susceptible  to  dramatic  play  of  personality,  being 
free  of  the  inhibitions  or  arrests  which  affect  the 
judgment  in  normal  consciousness,  every  suggestion 
is  liable  to  take  effect,  and  as  Mrs.  Smead  is  a  very 
religious  woman,  or  has  all  •  her  life  been  addicted 
to  a  religious  view  of  things,  it  would  be  perfectly 
natural  that  her  mind  would  take  this  suggestion  in 
her  trance  state. 

Consequently  what  the  spiritualist  might  accept 
as  having  an  extra  mental  source,  on  the  ground  of 
rationality  and  antagonism  to  the  natural  convic- 
tions of  Mrs.  Smead,  thus  becomes  interpretable  by 
278 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

subjective  action  and  all  the  representation  of  a 
transcendental  life  would  be  such  "  stuff  as  dreams 
are  made  of,"  and  the  case  a  good  example  of  what 
we  have  to  be  on  our  guard  against  in  our  desire 
to  have  some  definite  knowledge  of  another  world. 
Any  information  about  a  transcendental  existence, 
coming  in  this  way,  has  to  pass  the  ordeal  of  just 
such  criticism  as  I  have  indicated,  and  students  will 
have  to  learn  that  the  task  of  certifying  the  extra- 
mental  source  of  such  communications  is  an  extremely 
difficult  one.  The  circumstance  which  will  strike  the 
average  man  of  intelligence  as  absurd  is  the  readi- 
ness with  which  certain  alleged  spirits  can  be  called, 
or  the  apparent  ever-presence  of  any  particular  per- 
son that  may  attract  the  fancy  of  a  medium.  We 
cannot  easily  be  made  to  believe  that  great  historical 
personalities  are  forever  hovering  about  to  make 
themselves  known  to  obscure  persons  all  over  the 
world  on  all  sorts  of  occasions.  It  is  a  suspicious 
circumstance  that  such  phenomena  should  occur,  no 
matter  how  attractive  it  may  appear  to  our  preju- 
dices or  wishes.  Hence  it  would  be  a  stumbling  block 
to  our  belief  to  expect  a  ready  acceptance  of  such 
phenomena  on  their  superficial  character.  We  might 
more  easily  accede  to  the  claim  that  Stainton  Moses 
was  present,  but  even  this  would  be  feasible  only 
on  the  supposition  that  his  appearance  had  some 
purpose  and  consistency  with  the  general  scheme  of 
the  experiments.  If  he  was  only  a  casual  visitor, 
as  so  often  appears  in  phenomena  of  mediumship 
in  general,  we  could  hardly  accept  his  claims  an}r 
more  readily  than  we  would  those  of  such  a  person- 
279 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

allty  as  Jesus.  It  happens  that  the  appearance  of 
Stainton  Moses  as  an  alleged  communicator  in  this 
case  was  a  natural  accompaniment  of  the  alleged 
presence  of  other  communicators,  as  the  same  group 
of  personalities  have  been  represented  in  the  Piper 
case.  On  any  theory,  especially  that  of  secondary 
personality,  Stainton  Moses  ought  to  be  represented 
as  a  communicator  here.  But  this  sudden  and  in- 
explicable appearance  of  Christ  can  only  serve  to 
make  us  sceptical  of  any  source  but  that  of  subliminal 
mental  action,  and  this,  not  because  of  any  prejudices 
which  either  scepticism  or  religious  belief  might  en- 
tertain about  its  possibility,  but  because  of  the  casual 
and  purposeless  character  of  the  appearance.  When, 
therefore,  we  find  such  traces  of  suggestion  as  Mr. 
Smead's  exclamation,  we  may  well  understand  the 
represented  appearance  without  having  our  minds 
perplexed  by  the  semblance  of  spirit  communication. 
But  there  are  some  interesting  facts  which  create 
difficulties  for  the  hypothesis  of  secondary  person- 
ality, preferable  as  it  may  seem  to  the  student  of 
abnormal  psychology.  While  one  does  not  require, 
perhaps,  to  insist  too  rigidly  that  the  alternatives 
are  to  be  drawn  between  subliminal  or  subjective 
action  and  spirit  influence,  and  while  we  may  not 
feel  attracted  to  a  spirit  theory,  these  facts  do  not 
justify  an  uncritical  confidence  in  that  of  secondary 
personality.  If  we  accept  that  view  we  must  justify 
it  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  and  objections  which  it 
has  to  encounter.  I  do  not  conceal  from  myself 
the  fact  that  it  has  its  perplexities  as  viewed  from 
a  scientific  position,  and  we  are  bound  to  recognize 
280 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

them.     Agnosticism  in  the  matter  is  better  than  any 
theory  which  does  not  apply. 

The  first  important  fact  which  is  not  easily  ex- 
plained by  secondary  personality,  as  usually  man- 
ifested in  connection  with  the  fact  of  suggestibility, 
is  the  circumstance  that  Mrs.  Smead  does  not  show 
any  suggestibility  whatever  in  her  trance  condition. 
I  have  many  times  tried  to  apply  suggestion  to  her 
in  the  trance  and  I  have  not  succeeded  in  securing 
any  evidence  of  it  whatever.  We  might  limit  the 
rapport  to  Mr.  Smead,  but  I  have  no  evidence  for 
that  fact.  She  seems  as  thoroughly  proof  against 
it  as  a  perfectly  normal  person  usually  is.  In  this 
respect  she  quite  resembles  Mrs.  Piper  in  whom  I 
have  found  no  proof  of  suggestibility.  Possibly 
this  may  be  the  necessary  condition  of  the  trance 
which  is  associated  with  alleged  spirit  communica- 
tions. We,  of  course,  do  not  yet  understand  that 
state.  It  is  called  a  trance  because  it  does  not  show 
any  material  traces  of  a  condition  like  that  of  hyp- 
nosis. That  is,  the  contents  of  what  purports  to 
be  communications  do  not  resemble  essentially  the 
contents  of  hypnotic  states  under  the  suggestion  of 
an  ordinary  operator.  It  is  possible  for  us  to  obtain 
a  view  regarding  this  trance  which  may  ally  it  with 
hypnotic  or  somnambulic  states.  If  we  do  this,  how- 
ever, we  may  be  required  to  interpret  the  difference 
through  the  idea  of  rapport.  We  have  found  in 
the  experiments  of  Dr.  Moll  (Cf.  Rapport  in  der 
Hypnose,  Moll),  that  a  subject  may  not  be  in  rap- 
port with  any  or  every  one  near  by.  He  may  be 
in  suggestible  relation  only  to  the  operator,  or  to 
281 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    REStTRRECTlOtt 

one  or  two  others,  or  even  only  to  the  person  whom 
the  operator  suggests.  Rapport  is  not  a  fixed  or 
universal  condition.  It  apparently  exists  only  in 
degrees.  If,  then,  we  supposed  that  Mrs.  Piper's 
and  similar  trances  are  to  be  distinguished  from 
hypnosis  and  ordinary  secondary  personality  only 
by  the  nature  of  the  rapport,  we  may  find  why  their 
phenomena  take  the  form  of  spiritistic  communica- 
tions. If  they  are  en  rapport  with  deceased  persons 
and  not  with  the  living  we  can  well  understand  why 
they  do  not  respond  to  suggestion  from  the  living, 
though  the  trance  state  may  be  essentially  like  hyp- 
nosis in  its  other  characteristics.  I  understand  that 
at  one  period  of  her  life,  the  early  development  of  her 
mental  condition  associated  with  the  trance,  Mrs. 
Piper  exhibited  phenomena  of  echolalia,  which  means 
that  she  echoed  whatever  she  heard  uttered  in  her 
presence.  Assuming  this  condition  of  her  mind  and 
body  in  the  trance,  and  rapport  with  deceased  per- 
sons, we  may  well  comprehend  the  automatic  nature 
of  her  phenomena  and  their  limitation  to  real  or 
alleged  spirit  communications. 

Now  as  we  have  not  found  evidence  that  Mrs. 
Smead  is  in  the  least  suggestible  we  may  well  ask 
how  it  fares  with  the  incident  which  we  have  here 
supposed  was  due  to  this  action.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  note  the  possibility  as  suggested  by  the 
coincidence  between  Mr.  Smead's  exclamation  and 
the  trend  of  the  communications  and  the  apparition 
at  the  end,  but  if  Mrs.  Smead  is  so  suggestible 
as  this  we  should  find  frequent  indications  of  its 
presence  in  all  other  instances.  But  it  is  not  appar- 
282 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

ent  in  anything  that  I  have  observed,  and  I  have  been 
wholly  unable  to  prove  it  or  to  produce  it  by  ex- 
periment. Consequently,  what  I  have  pointed  out 
as  conceivable  indication  of  this  has  its  force  con- 
siderably diminished,  or  even  made  doubtful. 

The  second  fact  which  disturbs  the  hypothesis  of 
secondary  personality  is  the  circumstance  that  the 
view  of  eternal  punishment  taken  in  Mrs.  Smead's 
record  is  not  only  quite  different  from  the  one  most 
natural  to  her  normal  beliefs  but  shows  traces  of 
identity  with  the  view  expressed  in  the  "  Spirit 
Teachings  "  of  Stainton  Moses  himself,  which  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  Mrs.  Smead  never  saw. 
That  identity  is  not  of  the  kind  that  can  be  treated 
as  scientific  evidence,  but  the  resemblance  is  so  close 
that  the  advocate  of  secondary  personality  might 
well  seize  it  as  proof  of  that  hypothesis,  if  there 
were  any  reason  to  believe  that  Mrs.  Smead  had  ever 
seen  the  book.  But  Mrs.  Smead  affirms  that  she 
has  never  seen  it,  and  Mr.  Smead  has  not  the  book 
in  his  library  and  has  purposely  refrained  from  pur- 
chasing it,  so  that  knowledge  of  its  contents  should 
not  influence  the  personality  claiming  to  be  Stainton 
Moses.  They  live  at  least  one  hundred  miles  from 
any  library  which  might  be  supposed  to  contain 
the  work,  and  have  never  consciously  had  access  to 
it  in  any  library  with  which  they  are  familiar,  and 
this  knowledge  is  limited  to  small  libraries  which  are 
found  in  country  towns.  Though  Mrs.  Smead  has 
been  familiar  with  the  planchette  since  her  childhood, 
she  has  not  only  not  read  literature  on  Spiritualism, 
but  was  brought  up  in  strict  orthodoxy  and  in  regions 
283 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

which  had  few  or  no  library  facilities.  The  only 
assumption  that  can  be  made  regarding  the  possi- 
bility of  her  having  seen  the  book  is  that  she  may 
either  have  seen  it  casually  as  a  child  or  have  con- 
sulted it  in  some  somnambulic  state,  both  of  which 
suppositions  are  considerably  strained,  though  con- 
ceivably possible.  I  doubt  very  much  if  it  is  a  fact, 
especially  as  it  is  a  book  which  one  would  not  easily 
forget,  unless  read  when  too  young  to  remember  it. 
Her  environment  and  religious  habits  as  a  child  would 
most  probably  exclude  this  supposition. 

The  relation  between  the  thought  expressed  through 
Mrs.  Smead  and  that  of  the  "  Spirit  Teachings  " 
through  Stainton  Moses  can  be  best  determined  by 
a  comparison.  I  shall  quote  passages  from  "  Spirit 
Teachings  "  that  the  reader  may  decide  for  himself. 
We  must  remember  that  this  book  of  Mr.  Moses 
purported  to  be  communications  from  discarnate 
spirits,  personalities  who  allege  through  Mrs.  Piper 
that  they  are  the  same  spirits  who  communicated 
through  Mr.  Moses.  The  contents  of  his  book  rep- 
resent their  teaching  with  regard  to  spirit  life  and 
in  it  they  describe  the  nature  of  punishment  in  the 
life  after  death. 

In  one  passage,  after  saying  that  deceased  persons 
who  have  sinned  in  this  life  are  free  to  reform  in 
the  next  life  or  to  remain  in  their  sinful  desires, 
the  statement  of  "  Spirit  Teachings  "  is  as  follows : — 

"  This  is  the  unpardonable  sin.  Unpardonable, 
not  because  the  Supreme  will  not  pardon,  but  because 
the  sinner  chooses  it  to  be  so.  Unpardonable,  be- 
cause pardon  is  impossible  where  sin  is  congenial 
284 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

and  penitence  unfelt.  Punishment  is  ever  the  imme- 
diate consequences  of  sin ;  it  is  of  its  essence,  not 
arbitrarily  meted  out,  but  the  inevitable  result  of 
the  violation  of  law." 

In  another  passage,  it  says :  "  This  mortal  exist- 
ence is  but  a  fragment  of  life.  Its  deeds  and  their 
results  remain  when  the  body  is  dead.  The  ramifica- 
tions of  wilful  sin  have  to  be  followed  out,  and  its 
results  remedied  in  sorrow  and  shame." 

Again :  "  To  say  that  we  teach  a  motiveless  reli- 
gion is  surely  the  strangest  misconception.  What ! 
is  it  nothing  that  we  teach  you  that  each  act  in  this, 
the  seed-time  of  your  life,  will  bear  its  own  fruit ; 
that  the  results  of  conscious  and  deliberate  sin  must 
be  remedied  in  sorrow  and  shame  at  the  cost  of 
painful  toil  in  far  distant  ages;  that  the  erring 
spirit  must  gather  up  the  tangled  thread  and  un- 
ravel the  evil  of  which  it  was  long  ages  ago  the 
perpetrator?  " 

This  last  passage  is  identical  in  meaning  with  the 
Smead  record,  and  in  another  passage  the  thought 
is  not  less  identical  in  that  the  communicator  indi- 
cates that  the  sin  cannot  be  remedied  by  another 
but  only  by  the  sinner  himself,  and  that  no  happiness 
is  possible  for  him  until  he  grows  a  purer,  better, 
truer  man.  And  in  another  passage  occurs  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  The  spirit  which  has  been  slothful  or  impure 
gravitates  necessarily  to  its  congenial  sphere,  and 
commences  there  a  period  of  probation  which  has 
for  its  object  the  purification  of  the  spirit  from  the 
accumulated  habits  of  its  earth-life;  the  remedying 
285 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

in  remorse  and  shame  of  the  evil  done,  and  the 
gradual  rising  of  itself  to  a  higher  state  to  that 
which  each  process  of  purification  has  been  a  step." 
There  are  many  long  passages  with  the  same  im- 
port, and  though  the  exact  language  is  not  found  in 
both  sets  of  records  the  identity  of  thought  is  clear 
enough.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  belief 
or  assertion  that  they  have  necessarily  the  same 
source,  but  considering  that  Mrs.  Smead  never  saw 
the  work  I  have  been  quoting,  and  that  she  was  an- 
nouncing a  doctrine  more  or  less  at  variance  with 
her  natural  beliefs,  we  may  at  least  entertain  a  sus- 
picion that  their  identity  is  not  due  to  chance.  I 
do  not  claim  that  the  matter  has  a  spirit  source  in 
either  case.  There  is  no  adequate  scientific  proof  that 
it  had  such  an  origin  in  the  case  of  Stainton  Moses, 
though  the  teaching  was  in  direct  opposition  to  his 
native  beliefs.  But  whatever  the  source,  the  identity 
of  the  general  thought  in  both  cases  is  unmistakable, 
and  as  it  claims  to  come  from  Stainton  Moses  in  the 
Smead  case  where  his  original  writings  were  not 
known,  the  fact  has  just  as  much  weight  against  the 
hypothesis  of  secondary  personality  as  the  suppo- 
sition of  their  identity  has.  This  may  not  be  great, 
but  it  is  not  a  negligible  quantity.  Of  course,  it  is 
possible  to  regard  the  idea  expressed  in  Mrs.  Smead's 
automatic  writing  as  the  natural  reaction  of  her  own 
mind  against  her  orthodox  belief,  a  reaction  possibly 
caused  by  the  growing  interest  in  the  real  or  alleged 
evidence  of  spirit  return  through  her  own  writing. 
But  it  is  not  possible  to  decide  this  one  way  or  the 
other,  though  the  admitted  possibility  of  that  growth 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

makes  it  unnecessary  to  press  the  objection  to  sec- 
ondary personality  on  the  basis  mentioned.  It  might 
be  a  casual  coincidence  that  the  two  should  have  iden- 
tical views  on  a  question  in  which  the  most  natural 
tendencies  of  the  mind  are  to  accept  the  specified 
view  of  punishment.  But  without  denying  the  expla- 
nation of  secondary  personality  it  is  quite  legitimate 
to  insist  that  the  identity  of  the  teaching  in  the  two 
cases  is  not  favorable  to  the  hypothesis  of  subjective 
creation  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Smead  and  that  it  is 
consistent  with  another  and  more  important  theory, 
even  though  that  theory  be  neither  provable  nor  sat- 
isfactory in  this  case. 

I  shall  not  reject  the  hypothesis  of  secondary  per- 
sonality, in  spite  of  the  objections  to  its  assured 
application.  It  may  be  possible  on  other  grounds 
than  the  doubtfulness  of  the  spiritistic  view.  But 
the  circumstance  that  Mrs.  Smead  has  shown  no 
traces  of  suggestibility,  which  had  been  invoked  to 
explain  the  curious  claim  that  the  indirect  communi- 
cator was  Christ,  and  that  the  contents  of  the  com- 
munications are  so  identical,  or  nearly  identical,  with 
those  which  we  might  expect  Stainton  Moses  to  be- 
lieve or  to  remember,  clearly  establishes  a  duty  to 
as  much  suspense  of  judgment  on  that  view  as  we 
may  be  supposed  to  feel  on  other  grounds  against 
the  spiritistic  doctrine.  We  are  not  to  feel  any 
special  favor  for  secondary  personality  simply  be- 
cause we  feel  unimpressed  with  a  less  reputable  view. 
It  may  be  wiser  to  admit  ignorance  on  both  sides  of 
the  subject. 

But  whatever  our  individual  predilections,  all  must 
287 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

admit  that  it  is  fair  to  discuss  one  possibility  as 
much  as  another.  We  have  presented  three  alter- 
native explanations  of  the  phenomena  under  review, 
and  rejected  the  first  one  as  in  fact  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, namely,  that  of  conscious  fabrication.  If  we 
are  entitled  to  admit  the  possibility  of  spirit  com- 
munication it  should  receive  such  attention  as  its 
admitted  rivalry  with  subliminal  mental  action  en- 
titles it  to  receive.  I  do  not  grant  its  possibility  on 
a  priori  grounds  or  upon  the  evidence  in  the  record. 
Neither  of  these  reasons  would  suffice  to  justify  any- 
thing. But  the  mass  of  the  supernormal  that  is 
relevant  in  many  cases  to  the  spiritistic  hypothesis, 
and  the  existence  in  the  Smead  case  of  phenomena 
that  classify  it  with  that  of  Mrs.  Piper  make  spirit 
communications  such  a  possibility  that  we  cannot 
easily  assign  its  limits,  and  hence  for  the  sake  of 
understanding  how  it  may  be  invoked  to  explain 
incidents  in  the  record  under  consideration  which  are 
not  so  easily  explicable  by  secondary  personality,  I 
shall  tolerate  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  and  see  what 
it  will  effect.  I  shall  not  assume  that  it  is  necessarily 
the  true  view  to  be  taken,  but  simply  as  one  to  be 
tested  in  the  same  way  as  its  rival  alternative. 

What  I  wish  to  show  is  that  it  is  possible  to  sup- 
pose the  spiritistic  theory  in  the  case  without  accept- 
ing the  view  that  the  communicator  is  other  than 
Stainton  Moses.  The  believer  in  the  spirit  theory 
is  always  tempted  to  take  that  view  on  the  face  of 
the  returns,  so  to  speak.  But  in  supposing  that 
spirits  have  anything  to  do  with  the  phenomena  I 
288 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

do  not  feel  compelled  to  assume  that  Christ  is  either 
directly  or  indirectly  the  communicator  as  claimed. 
We  need  not  go  beyond  supposing  that  it  is  Stainton 
Moses.  I  do  not  pretend  that  there  is  any  satisfac- 
tory evidence  of  his  presence,  but  that,  with  this 
theory  once  justified  in  other  cases,  it  is  rational  to 
try  the  hypothesis  to  see  how  much  may  be  explicable 
by  it  which  does  not  seem  clear  on  that  of  secondary 
personality. 

Let  us,  then,  assume  that  Stainton  Moses  deceased 
is  actually  in  "  control "  and  that  he  is  trying  to 
communicate.  We  may  venture  to  consider  the  iden- 
tity of  view  in  the  case  with  his  past  experiences  in 
life  to  be  evidence  of  his  presence  and  attempt  to 
communicate,  taking  this  with  other  references  to 
him  through  Mrs.  Smead  and  more  or  less  evidential 
incidents  in  connection  with  him.  I  cannot  quote 
these,  as  they  would  require  too  much  space.  Now 
if  there  are  peculiar  difficulties  associated  with  at- 
tempts to  communicate  with  the  living,  such  as  are 
indicated  throughout  all  or  nearly  all  instances  of 
"  possession  "  mediumship,  we  may  well  imagine  a 
source  and  explanation  for  the  perplexities  involved 
in  the  messages.  These  difficulties  I  have  summed  up 
as  an  abnormal  mental  condition  while  communicat- 
ing, in  addition  to  correlated  difficulties  in  the  abnor- 
mal condition  of  the  medium.  This  abnormal  men- 
tal condition  of  the  communicator  may  be  compared 
to  a  state  of  secondary  personality  in  its  dreamlike 
or  somnambulic  character.  It  is  much  more  like 
somnambulism  than  chaotic  dreaming  in  many  cases, 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

and  so  shows  an  active  mental  condition,  though  it  is 
prevented  from  having  that  rational  control  which 
characterizes  normal  consciousness. 

Now  if  we  suppose  this  somnambulic  condition  of 
Stainton  Moses  we  may  well  understand  that  he  is 
suggestible  and  liable  to  all  the  phenomena  which 
exhibit  themselves  in  suggestible  persons.  As  I  have 
not  been  able  to  find  suggestibility  in  Mrs.  Smead 
we  may  transfer  the  application  of  the  hypothesis 
to  the  communicator  and  see  how  it  fits  the  facts. 
Assuming,  then,  that  Stainton  Moses  is  somnambulic 
and  suggestible  while  communicating,  we  may  well 
understand  how  he  should  impersonate  another,  pro- 
vided the  same  hallucinatory  tendencies  showed  them- 
selves in  his  mental  action  that  so  often  are  asso- 
ciated with  somnambulic,  delirious,  and  dream  con- 
ditions with  the  living.  It  is  well  known  that  dreams, 
deliria,  and  hallucinations  are  more  or  less  closely 
related  to  each  other  in  the  functions  exercised,  and 
somnambulism  and  hypnosis  exhibit  the  same  char- 
acteristics in  many,  if  not  all  cases.  We  know  what 
a  sense  of  reality  accompanies  hallucinations,  and 
how  easily  a  morbid  mental  condition  mistakes  them 
for  real  objects,  the  person  experiencing  them  not 
being  responsible  for  his  error  of  judgment  and 
being  incapable  of  correcting  it.  If  this  be  the  con- 
dition of  Stainton  Moses  we  may  well  suppose  that 
Mr.  Smead's  reference  to  Christ  created  a  hallucina- 
tion in  his  mind ;  i.  e.,  it  put  a  thought  into  his  mind 
which  immediately  took  the  form  of  reality,  and 
was,  in  his  morbid  condition,  construed  as  we  do 
the  objects  in  our  dreams.     I  have  already  alluded 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

to  the  dramatic  play  of  our  dreams  in  which  we 
carry  on  conversations  and  discussions  as  real  as  in 
life  with  persons  whose  non-reality  we  rarely  sus- 
pect until  we  awaken  and  look  at  the  experience  from 
a  normal  point  of  view.  There  is  no  reason  to  deny 
this  condition  in  Stainton  Moses,  in  this  assumed 
condition  for  communicating,  and  in  fact  there  is 
much  to  sustain  the  contention.  Impersonation  is 
a  marked  feature  of  such  experiences,  and  every 
idea  that  comes  into  the  mind  will  naturally  take  the 
form  of  the  "  apperception  mass,"  or  main  thought 
of  the  moment,  if  it  does  not  arrest  it,  so  that,  with 
this  supposed  suggestibility  of  Stainton  Moses,  he 
would  naturally  impersonate  communication  with 
Christ,  once  he  became  possessed  with  the  notion  of 
his  reality,  itself  a  product  of  his  hallucinatory  con- 
dition. In  the  interfusion  of  his  mental  condition 
with  the  personality,  subliminal  personality,  of  Mrs. 
Smead,  which  is  presumably  suggestible  from  the 
spiritual  and  not  the  material  side  of  her  being, 
we  may  well  suppose  that  the  idea  or  hallucination 
is  transmitted  to  her  mind  and  emerges  as  a  dream 
or  hypnogogic  product  as  she  comes  out  of  the 
trance. 

Nor  is  this  supposed  interfusion  of  personalities 
an  a  'priori  conjecture.  It  exhibits  itself  in  nearly 
all  mediumistic  phenomena.  I  cannot  undertake  here 
to  prove  it.  I  only  assert  that  I  am  not  making 
the  assumption  arbitrarily  and  without  cumulative 
evidence  in  other  cases.  That  is,  the  hypothesis  is 
not  constructed  for  the  occasion.  It  is  the  common 
phenomenon  in  mediumistic  experiences,  and  all  that 
291 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

seems  new  —  and  this  may  not  really  be  new  —  is 
the  coincidence  between  the  impersonation  on  "  the 
other  side "  and  the  vision  of  Mrs.  Smead  in  the 
borderland  state. 

It  is  noticeable  in  the  contents  of  Mrs.  Smead's 
record  that  the  communications  purport  to  represent 
the  state  of  things  in  a  transcendental  world.  It  is 
said  that  the  system  of  punishment  is  only  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  sinful  condition  of  this  life,  that 
virtue  and  vice  are  their  own  rewards,  etc.  Appar- 
ently we  have  material  which  would  answer  the  query 
regarding  what  the  after  life  is.  But  if  we  are 
to  assume  this  to  be  communication  from  the  other 
world  at  all,  its  contents  are  the  memory  of  Stainton 
Moses,  or  at  least  mingled  with  the  experiences  of 
his  memory.  We  have  seen  that  there  is  more  or 
less  identity  between  what  his  "  Spirit  Teachings  " 
taught  and  this  purported  communication  from  him 
after  death,  and  if  we  accept  this  view  of  the  facts 
we  have  no  evidence  whatever  that  he  is  correctly 
representing  the  conditions  of  a  spiritual  world.  He 
is  only  repeating,  in  a  somnambulic  state,  the  mem- 
ories of  his  earthly  life  as  expressed  in  his  work, 
and  in  that  work  itself  the  "  control  "  recognized 
that  the  communications  were  colored  by  Stainton 
Moses*  own  mind  while  he  was  receiving  the  messages. 
"  Your  state  now  colors  your  views,"  says  a  passage 
of  "  Spirit  Teachings."  "  Much  we  are  obliged  to 
clothe  in  allegory,  and  to  elucidate  by  borrowing 
your  phraseology."  In  another  communication  the 
same  personality,  speaking  of  a  demand  by  Stainton 
Moses  for  a  specific  type  of  evidence,  said  that  the 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

result  would  be  "  imperfect  and  unreliable,  from  the 
admixture  of  your  own  mental  action  and  that  of 
the  circle."  In  still  another  passage  Stainton  Moses 
was  told  that  the  communications  are  affected  by  his 
own  mind,  especially  when  he  was  not  well. 

This  same  modifying  influence  would  be  expected 
in  the  mental  habits  of  Mrs.  Smead,  and  hence,  given 
the  somnambulic  state  of  Stainton  Moses  when  com- 
municating, we  should  naturally  expect  a  tendency 
to  reproduce  more  or  less  of  his  memories  associated 
with  the  very  subject  which  had  been  discussed  in 
his  own  automatic  writing  when  living,  and  such 
they  seem  to  be.  Accepting  them  as  such  we  readily 
perceive  the  weakness  of  supposing  that  they  cor- 
rectly report  the  conditions  of  the  life  after  death, 
even  though  they  suffice  to  prove  the  fact  of  it. 
There  are  no  means  of  testing  how  much  the  mind  of 
Mrs.  Smead  may  have  influenced  the  purity  of  the 
communications. 

An  interesting  incident  recently  in  the  Smead  case 
reinforces  the  hypothesis  here  suggested.  In  a  sit- 
ting occurring  a  few  days  before  and  reported  to 
me  at  once,  my  father  purports  to  communicate,  and 
he  alludes  to  this  Cardinal  which  has  been  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  record  under  discussion.  He 
asks  Mrs.  Smead  if  this  Cardinal  may  be  permitted 
to  serve  as  a  helper  in  the  work  of  communicating. 
I  quote  the  record: 

"  We  would  ask  that  the  friend  who  calls  himself 

C.  L.  be  granted  the  permission  to  help  here.     Will 

it  be  desirable,  friends?     He  will  ofttimes  give  his 

former  ideas,  but  of  course  [they]  are  changed  with 

293 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

his  experiences,  as  are  all  our  views  in  waking  in 
this  life." 

The  italics  are  my  own.  But  what  the  passage 
emphasizes  is  the  unconscious  evidence  which  it  sup- 
plies to  the  tendency  of  spirits  to  reproduce  their 
memories  in  some  form,  not  always  in  incidents,  but 
often  in  views,  and  as  often  distorted  and  made  un- 
intelligible by  intermixture  with  new  ideas  acquired 
in  their  new  experience  and  uncommunicable  in  sen- 
sory terms  that  can  be  clear.  While  all  this  does 
not  prove  that  Stainton  Moses  is  actually  communi- 
cating in  the  Smead  case  it  does  explain  why  the 
messages  take  that  form,  if  we  assume  for  hypothet- 
ical purposes  that  he  is  communicating.  We  have 
then  only  to  suppose  (and  there  is  much  evidence 
in  mediumistic  phenomena  to  warrant  our  belief) 
that  communicators  are  in  a  highly  suggestible  con- 
dition, some  of  them  at  least,  and  this  once  assumed 
we  can  well  understand  the  form  of  impersonation 
imagined  in  this  special  case. 

That  such  is  possible  is  still  further  indicated  by 
the  common  phenomenon  in  mediumistic  communica- 
tions, especially  of  the  subliminal  as  distinct  from 
the  possession  type  of  psychic,  that  the  messages 
seem  to  describe  objects  seen,  where  we  have  only 
to  suppose  that  the  things  seen  are  telepathically 
transmitted  phantasms.  They  may  be  hallucinations 
of  the  veridical  type  in  the  medium  produced  tele- 
pathically from  an  extraneous  source,  and  they  may 
be,  in  addition,  phantasms  in  the  mind  of  the  com- 
municator, a  phenomenon  that  seems  to  be  supported 
by  some  cases  of  telepathy  between  the  living.     That 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC     PHENOMENA 

is,  in  some  cases,  it  seems  that  a  predisposition  to 
hallucinatory  images  in  connection  with  thoughts  by 
the  agent  is  accompanied  by  similar  conditions  in 
the  percipient  as  at  least  an  aid  in  the  success  of 
telepathy.  Assuming  this  to  be  more  true  of  a 
spiritual  than  of  a  material  world,  as  we  may  well 
do  from  what  we  know  of  subliminal  mental  action 
in  the  living,  we  can  well  imagine  that  this  function 
figures  in  that  type  of  messages  which  involve  appar- 
ent description  of  things  and  events  in  the  other  life. 
If  we  accept  it,  the  whole  set  of  phenomena  fall 
into  easy  interpretation  on  the  spiritistic  hypothesis, 
and  we  should  only  have  to  await  adequate  evidence 
to  prove  it  to  be  a  fact. 

It  might  be  objected  that  this  theory  is  too  com- 
plicated. But  I  should  reply  that  it  is  either  not 
complicated  at  all  or  that  it  is  less  so  than  the  ordi- 
nary hypotheses  which  are  advanced  to  eliminate 
the  spiritistic.  Besides  it  would  not  make  any  differ- 
ence about  its  applicability  if  it  were  as  complicated 
as  it  may  be  supposed  to  be.  If  it  explains  more 
rationally  than  others  it  would  have  the  preference. 
But  I  must  contest  the  claim  that  it  is  especially 
complicated,  at  least  that  it  is  any  more  complicated 
than  the  materialistic  theory  of  subjective  hallucina- 
tions. All  that  I  am  doing  is  to  suppose  the  same 
psychological  phenomena  in  a  discarnate  that  we  find 
in  an  incarnate  mind.  We  find  extreme  suggestibil- 
ity and  somnambulic  conditions  very  frequently  asso- 
ciated in  the  living,  and  it  is  the  only  explanation 
which  normal  and  abnormal  psychology  accepts  of 
certain  phenomena  in  the  living.  It  is  no  worse 
295 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

to  suppose  the  same  laws  of  action  in  the  discarnate. 
It  is  as  simple  in  one  as  in  the  other,  and  if  it  ex- 
plains it  is  entitled  to  recognition  as  an  hypothesis, 
pending  the  production  of  evidence  for  its  actual 
truth. 

Nor  will  it  alter  matters  to  say  or  suppose  that 
subjective  hallucinations  and  abnormal  phenomena 
generally  in  the  living  are  caused  by  morbid  brain 
conditions,  as  all  such  phenomena  are  mental  in 
nature,  no  matter  what  their  antecedent  cause  in 
brain  action.  Of  course,  on  the  materialistic  theory 
they  are  purely  cerebral  as  well  as  the  normal  mental 
states.  But  if  we  have  evidence  in  the  proper  super- 
normal phenomena  for  the  existence  of  a  soul  and 
its  survival  —  and  survival  is  necessary  to  prove  its 
existence  now  —  we  should  have  to  treat  all  normal 
and  abnormal  mental  phenomena  as  functions  of  the 
soul,  with  such  interaction  between  body  and  soul 
as  permits  at  least  an  efficient  causal  relation  between 
them.  Hence  being  mental  phenomena  in  any  case 
and  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  mind  rather  than 
the  occasional  or  exciting  cause,  we  can  understand 
how  hallucinatory  functions  would  characterize  a  dis- 
carnate mind  in  any  abnormal  conditions  of  its  ex- 
ercise. This  supposition  would  do  no  violence  to 
any  scientific  doctrine  of  a  soul  and  would  have  the 
advantage  of  as  simple  an  explanation  of  certain 
phenomena  having  a  claim  to  a  spiritistic  origin  as 
any  similar  phenomena  in  living  minds.  In  fact,  it 
would  seem  that  scientific  method  and  the  very  con- 
ception of  personal  identity  would  compel  us  to  sup- 
pose the  same  mental  functions  as  such  in  a  spiritual 
296 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

world  as  a  condition  of  supposing  any  survival  at 
all,  and  with  this  granted  we  should  have  abundant 
right  to  extend  hypotheses  of  mental  action  which 
explain  certain  facts  in  the  living  to  explain  similar 
phenomena  in  the  deceased.  We  are  thus  conforming 
to  the  very  demand  of  science  that  we  avoid  the 
multiplication  of  hypotheses.  In  the  procedure  here 
adopted  I  have  only  accepted  and  applied  the  very 
theory  which  psychologically  explains  the  same  type 
of  facts  in  the  living,  and  the  question  of  simplicity 
and  complexity  is,  for  that  reason,  excluded  from 
the  account. 

There  is  an  interesting  incident  which  in  some 
respects  confirms  the  hypothesis  here  advanced  for 
mental  conditions  on  "  the  other  side."  It  finds  its 
suggestiveness  from  the  general  theory  of  idealism 
accepted  by  the  philosophers.  This  doctrine  main- 
tains that  all  our  ideas  are  mental  constructs.  By 
this  is  meant  that  our  minds  have  to  form  their 
own  conceptions  and  representations  of  reality,  that 
we  do  not  see  things  as  they  in  reality  are,  but  that 
their  appearances  are  the  result  of  mental  reaction 
upon  stimuli  whose  nature  we  cannot  describe  in 
sense  terms  or  experiences.  These  forms  of  reality, 
as  it  appears,  are  determined  by  the  way  the  mind 
is  affected,  and  in  this  material  world  the  bodily 
senses  modify  the  relation  between  the  outer  world 
and  the  inner  life.  Now  there  is  a  distinction  be- 
tween sensational  and  inner  experience.  Sensation 
occurs  only  on  the  occasion  of  physical  stimuli,  but 
inner  mental  action  and  its  conceptions  are  either 
not  due  to  external  stimuli  or  are  not  related  to  it 
297 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

in  any  such  way  as  normal  sensations.  Now  the 
subliminal  life  of  the  mind,  even  when  it  reproduces 
the  forms  of  sensory  experience,  does  not  represent 
external  reality  as  do  sensations,  and  in  our  dreams, 
deliria,  and  hallucinations,  whether  systematic  or 
otherwise,  we  have  functions  which  do  not  depend 
on  correlated  physical  stimuli  of  the  normal  type  to 
explain  their  character.  That  is,  inner  activity  may 
simulate  a  real  world,  though  the  physical  conditions 
which  determine  a  normal  experience  are  not  present. 
The  normal  physical  functions  may  be  wholly  sus- 
pended and  yet  the  inner  functions  of  the  mind  may 
completely  simulate  reality. 

Now  if  a  soul  exists  and  survives  death  it  simply 
casts  off  the  physical  organism  which  determines  its 
relation  to  the  physical  and  sensory  world.  There 
remain,  by  hypothesis,  those  inner  functions  which 
may  produce  all  the  appearances  of  reality  without 
its  being  other  than  a  thought  world.  In  a  life 
after  death  the  conditions  for  a  more  literal  realiza- 
tion of  idealism  may  exist  than  in  the  bodily  life, 
and  if  we  could  make  the  normal  condition  after 
death  what  a  philosophic  friend  once  said  to  me  he 
wished  it  were,  namely,  a  rationalized  dream  life,  we 
might  well  understand  many  of  the  reported  phenom- 
ena which  perplex  the  student  of  psychology  and 
the  man  of  the  world  in  the  investigation  of  spirit- 
istic theories.  We  would  only  interpret  such  phe- 
nomena as  we  are  discussing  in  the  light  of  mental 
productions  without  physical  stimuli,  productions 
under  the  law  of  habits  which  we  formed  in  the  body. 
But  whether  determined  by  these  habits  or  not  they 
298 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

would  be  conceived  as  subjective  activities,  and  if 
telepathy  be  a  more  general  mode  of  communication 
in  the  spiritual  world  we  could  understand  many 
phenomena  occurring  in  it  which  seem  perplexing 
now.  Until  we  became  familiar  with  the  processes 
of  such  a  world  we  should  take  for  physical  reality 
the  hallucinatory  products  of  our  own  mind.  The 
intermediate  state  of  our  development  might  be 
fraught  with  abnormal  conditions  until  we  became 
adjusted  to  the  new  environment. 

Now  I  come  to  the  incident  which  I  had  in  mind 
when  introducing  this  discussion  on  the  basis  of  the 
orthodox  idealism.  I  obtained  a  verbal  report  re- 
cently from  a  purely  private  source  of  some  real 
or  alleged  communications  from  a  man  who  died  a 
few  years  ago.  He  was  a  rising  man  in  his  depart- 
ment of  work  and  was  prematurely  cut  off  by  death. 
His  family  has  been  apparently  in  communication 
with  him,  and  the  evidence  for  this,  not  through  a 
professional  medium,  is  of  the  same  type  as  the 
Piper  phenomena.  In  one  of  his  communications, 
however,  while  commenting  on  the  peculiarities  of 
his  spiritual  life  he  stated  that  he  "  sometimes  saw, 
for  instance,  a  man  reading  a  book,  but  when  he 
approached  to  talk  with  him  he  found  it  was  only  a 
thought." 

This  is  sufficiently  paradoxical  at  least  to  strike 
our  attention,  and  if  we  are  of  the  Philistine  type 
we  will  summarily  reject  it  as  absurd.  But  as  the 
report  can  not  be  treated  as  fraudulent  and  as  it 
is  not  a  natural  view  to  take  of  such  a  world,  we  have 
only  to  ask  how  it  comports  with  other  phenomena 
299 


PSYCHICAL    EESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

purporting  to  come  from  a  transcendental  life.  I 
think  that  it  will  be  perfectly  easy  to  explain  it 
on  the  lines  just  suggested.  Suppose  it  to  be  an 
hallucination  in  the  spiritual  world,  if  you  like,  tel- 
epathically  transmitted  from  some  other  spirit,  and 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  it.  The  per- 
son who  reported  the  fact  to  me  took  it  as  evidence 
of  "  thought  forms,"  assuming  that  "  thoughts  are 
things."  This  may  be  true  for  all  that  I  know,  but 
it  is  more  in  accordance  with  the  orthodox  idealism 
and  with  the  multifarious  incidents  of  mediumistic 
communications  associated  with  subliminal  processes 
of  all  kinds,  to  interpret  it  as  a  veridical  hallucina- 
tion in  the  spiritual  life,  or  even  a  subjective  one, 
than  to  suppose  it  to  represent  a  reality  so  at  vari- 
ance with  all  that  we  know.  Assuming  this  view  of 
the  incident,  we  can  well  comprehend  such  phenom- 
ena as  we  have  provisionally  referred  to  the  suggesti- 
bility and  somnambulism  of  a  real  Stainton  Moses 
communicating  under  adverse  circumstances.  The 
same  general  functions  are  involved  in  the  explana- 
tion of  this  incident  under  notice  as  we  assume  in 
that  of  Mr.  Moses,  namely,  a  liability  to  hallucina- 
tions which  are  taken  for  reality,  just  as  we  all  do 
in  our  ordinary  dreams  and  deliria. 

I  am  not  defending  the  spiritistic  theory  of  the 
facts  as  the  true  hypothesis  in  the  record  under  re- 
view, but  only  its  capacity  to  explain  the  facts. 
It  may  not  be  true.  The  evidential  criterion  has 
not  been  satisfied.  But  neither  is  the  evidential  as- 
pect of  secondary  personality  satisfied.  All  that  I 
have  been  trying  to  do  is  to  ascertain  which  theory 
300 


SOME    FEATURES    IN    MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

explains  certain  facts  and  which  does  not.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  best  applies  to 
all  the  phenomena  in  the  case,  even  though  it  may  not 
be  true  in  fact  and  though  we  might  prefer  that  of 
secondary  personality  if  we  had  consistent  evidence 
in  its  support. 

But  the  most  important  lesson  from  the  incidents 
is  that  which  shows  the  reservations  we  have  to  make 
in  accepting  as  evidence  of  conditions  in  a  spiritual 
world,  statements  that  we  assume  to  come  from  spir- 
its. There  are  few  records  that  offer  a  better  oppor- 
tunity than  this  one  for  testing  the  claims  to  a 
revelation  of  transcendental  conditions.  The  evi- 
dence on  the  whole,  taking  other  incidents  into  ac- 
count than  those  present,  are  sufficient  to  suggest 
the  possibility  and  nothing  more  of  spirit  communi- 
cation, and  the  facts  are  just  perplexing  enough  to 
raise  serious  doubts  about  it,  partly  from  the  lim- 
itations of  the  theory  of  secondary  personality  on 
the  part  of  Mrs.  Smead,  and  partly  from  the  nat- 
ural dubiousness  that  the  facts  could  be  all  that  they 
claim  to  be.  But  some  unity  is  needed  to  account  for 
them  when  fraud  is  excluded,  and  when  this  can  be 
sought  in  a  combination  of  supernormal  sources  for 
the  messages  and  an  abnormal  condition  analogous 
to  somnambulism  and  suggestibility  in  the  living, 
we  remove  all  the  perplexities  apparent  in  the  sup- 
position of  the  superficial  claims  of  the  matter  while 
we  escape  the  difficulties  incident  to  the  hypothesis 
of  subliminal  action  and  fabrication  on  Mrs.  Smead's 
part.  That  is  to  say,  we  neither  accept  the  com- 
munications as  correctly  representing  a  spiritual 
301 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

world,  while  we  admit  the  possibility  of  that  source 
for  them,  nor  admit  the  sufficiency  of  secondary  per- 
sonality as  an  explanation  of  them.  The  analysis 
also  illustrates  the  fact  that  the  alternative  between 
subliminal  production  by  Mrs.  Smead  and  spiritistic 
reality  as  apparent  is  not  so  sharply  drawn  as  contro- 
versial demands  would  like  to  have  it,  and  such  a 
view  illustrates  the  need  of  patience  and  critical 
methods  in  the  treatment  of  these  and  similar  phe- 
nomena. 

What  we  need,  to  make  the  hypothesis  of  sec- 
ondary personality  perfectly  applicable  to  the  case, 
is  more  knowledge  of  its  nature  and  laws  of  action. 
It  is  all  very  well  to  use  it  to  explain  phenomena 
which  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  are  consciously 
fraudulent  and  which  are  not  evidential  of  the  super- 
normal, but  we  require  to  meet  the  responsibilities 
which  every  man  assumes  when  he  presents  an  hypoth- 
esis. We  must  be  able  to  apply  it  to  details 
consistently  with  the  known  facts  and  to  give  sat- 
isfactory evidence  that  it  is  true.  We  have  not  yet 
determined  the  nature  and  limits  of  secondary  per- 
sonality, and  cannot  do  more  than  appeal  to  it  as 
a  precaution  against  hasty  credulity  in  more  difficult 
theories  until  we  have  subjected  it  to  a  more  thorough 
investigation.  From  what  we  know  of  the  work  of 
Dr.  Boris  Sidis  in  Psychopathology  and  of  Dr.  Mor- 
ton Prince  in  the  same  field,  especially  in  the  Beau- 
champ  case,  we  may  well  entertain  a  large  extension 
of  the  capacities  of  subliminal  impersonation.  But 
in  none  of  these  cases  of  the  psychiatrist,  have  they 
reached  the  kind  of  realism  and  dramatic  play  which 
302 


SOME    FEATURES    IN     MEDIUMISTIC    PHENOMENA 

characterizes  such  instances  as  we  are  studying,  and 
hence  whatever  value  secondary  personality  may  have 
for  putting  limitations  on  spiritism  it  will  not  be  a 
universal  solvent  until  we  know  more  about  it.  So 
much  we  may  as  well  frankly  admit  and  demand 
the  means  and  opportunities  for  studying  it  ade- 
quately. Its  weaknesses,  however,  will  be  no  excuse 
for  accepting  the  alternative  hypothesis,  which  may 
seem  more  difficult  of  belief  than  the  more  familiar 
phenomena  of  abnormal  psychology.  The  utmost 
that  we  can  do  is  to  test  the  hypotheses  for  their 
consistency  and  possibility,  and  then  look  for  the 
evidence  which  will  prove  one  rather  than  the  other. 
Such  evidence  we  do  not  possess  in  the  record  before 
us,  and  it  is  not  pretended  that  it  is  the  desired  evi- 
dence. It  is  only  an  example  of  the  kind  of  phe- 
nomena which  exist  in  large  quantities  and  which 
more  and  more  demand  an  intelligible  explanation. 
The  case  can  be  summarized  in  the  following  man- 
ner, assuming  that  we  have  two  general  hypotheses 
which  will  serve  as  the  points  of  view  to  be  at  least 
emphasized  as  the  primary  factors  in  the  phenomena. 

(1)  We  may  hold  that  the  whole  product  is  one  of 
secondary  personality,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  real 
or  apparent  difficulties  which  I  have  discussed.  This 
will  discredit  a  transcendental  source  for  the  facts. 

(2)  We  may  concede  that  secondary  personality  is 
not  adequate  and,  though  accepting  the  applicability 
of  the  spiritistic  theory,  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  it  rightly  represents  the  alleged  source  of  the 
statements  made,  at  least  in  so  far  as  the  assumed 
chief  communicator  is  concerned.     It  has  been  with 

303 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

a  view  of  indicating  this  limitation  of  judgment  in 
the  case  that  I  have  discussed  the  spiritistic  possi- 
bility at  all.  The  opportunity  for  sustaining  a  more 
or  less  conservative  and  critical  method  was  so  im- 
portant that  it  could  not  be  lost,  and  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  the  hypothesis  thus  entertained  has 
anything  like  the  evidence  for  its  being  a  fact  that 
it  has  for  its  mere  conceivability. 


304 


CHAPTER    X 

TELEPATHY 

Telepathy  has  been  such  a  solvent  of  difficulties 
in  psychic  research  when  people  were  not  willing  to 
admit  what  they  did  not  know,  that  it  is  time  to 
"  take  stock  "  of  this  term.  Hardly  a  phenomenon 
during  the  last  twenty  years  has  appeared  that  has 
not  at  least  suggested  to  certain  kinds  of  minds  the 
explanation  of  it  by  some  sort  of  "  telepathy."  In 
season  and  out  of  season  it  has  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  attempt  to  escape  some  other  and  perhaps 
more  simple  theory.  But  the  time  has  come  to  ascer- 
tain with  some  clearness  what  we  mean  by  it.  We 
think  that  "  mind  reading  "  and  "  thought  transfer- 
ence "  make  good  synonyms  for  it  and  so  they  may, 
but  they  are  no  clearer  conceptions  when  we  are 
pressed  for  their  exact  meaning.  The  scepticism 
which  prevails  in  scientific  quarters  as  to  the  mere 
facts  of  "  telepathy  "  is  more  than  half  due  to  the 
circumstance  that  we  can  never  learn  from  popular 
usage  what  definite  limits  it  is  supposed  to  have, 
or  what  are  the  laws  and  conditions  under  which 
the  phenomena  denoted  by  it  may  happen  to  occur. 
If  popular  conceptions  about  it  were  clear  and  if  the 
facts  which  the  untrained  mind  tries  to  explain  by 
it  had  any  simple  general  characteristics  which  the 
assumed  explanation  made  intelligible  we  might  take 
a  charitable  view  of  the  term.  But  such  a  medley 
305 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  real  or  alleged  phenomena  is  referred  to  it  that 
the  term  is  like  "  special  providence  "  for  explana- 
tion. It  is  assumed  to  explain  any  coincidence  that 
may  happen  to  occur  in  the  experiences  of  two  minds, 
or  any  class  of  supernormal  phenomena  that  are 
mental.  This  overweight  of  meaning  attached  to 
it  is  just  the  circumstance  that  makes  the  scientific 
man  pause  at  its  use  and  application.  We  can  ex- 
plain the  distribution  of  the  planets  by  gravitation 
but  not  the  distribution  of  animals.  Science  has 
some  respect  to  relevancy  when  it  classifies  effects 
under  causes,  but  the  extravagant  believer  in  telep- 
athy seems  to  know  no  bounds  to  his  credulity  if 
only  he  can  evade  something  more  rational  but  less 
respectable. 

In  popular  parlance  "  telepathy  "  is  a  name  for 
a  process  supposed  to  explain  the  supernormal  ac- 
quisition of  information  without  regard  to  any  lim- 
its whatever.  If  Mr.  Smith  happens  to  learn  super- 
normally  some  facts  which  can  be  shown  to  have  once 
been  known  by  Mr.  Jones,  "  telepathy  "  is  supposed 
to  explain  them,  and  they  may  even  be  construed 
as  evidence  of  this.  If  Mr.  Jones  does  not  happen 
to  know  them,  or  to  have  experienced  them,  and  we 
learn  that  some  friends  of  his  did  know  them  we 
are  confronted  with  "  telepathy  "  a  trois.  This 
means  that  in  some  way  Smith  is  put  into  rapport 
with  Jones's  friend  and  filches  the  facts  from  his 
memory  telepathically.  Or  if  Jones's  friend  does 
not  know  them  and  they  happen  to  be  known  by  his 
friend  Barlow  whom  Jones  does  not  know  the  rapport 
with  Barlow  is  established  through  the  relation  of 
306 


TELEPATHY 

his  friend  to  Jones  and  the  process  is  as  easy  as 
before.  In  this  way  "  telepathy "  is  made  to  do 
anything  and  to  indicate  an  ad  libitum  access  to  the 
minds  and  memories  of  all  living  persons.  That  is 
a  capacious  power  which  it  is  hard  to  defeat  m  an 
argument,  especially  when  it  is  assumed  a  priori 
and  without  one  iota  of  scientific  evidence  in  its  sup- 
port. It  is  so  arbitrary  in  its  application  that  it 
takes  no  account  of  the  fact  that  the  process  never 
seems  to  occur  except  when  it  is  necessary  to  sim- 
ulate some  other  explanation  and  it  becomes  the  part 
of  men  who  have  no  sense  of  humor  to  believe  any- 
thing rather  than  confess  ignorance  or  agnosticism. 

If  those  who  use  "  telepathy  "  so  freely  to  explain 
mysteries  would  take  the  trouble  to  examine  the  con- 
ditions under  which  it  obtained  currency  and  the 
facts  which  required  its  acceptance  they  would  have 
no  difficulty  in  understanding  the  limits  of  its  use. 
Its  original  meaning  was  "  a  coincidence  between  two 
persons'  thoughts  which  requires  a  causal  explana- 
tion." It  is  to  be  noticed  in  this  conception  that  it 
is  not  a  name  for  a  cause  of  any  kind.  It  but  de- 
nominates a  fact  for  which  we  have  still  to  seek  and 
find  the  cause.  This  is  a  most  important  circum- 
stance to  keep  in  mind,  as  it  assigns  a  decided  limita- 
tion to  the  usage  of  the  term  which  is  so  popular. 

The  phenomena  which  gave  rise  to  the  employment 
of  the  term  were  just  what  the  definition  indicates, 
namely,  coincidences  between  the  thoughts  of  persons 
which  were  not  due  to  chance.  It  is  probable  that 
the  performances  of  Bishop  and  Cumberland  with 
their  claims  of  "  mind  reading  "  gave  the  problem  of 
307 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

investigating  and  explaining  such  coincidences  its 
emphasis  and  importance.  But  their  performances, 
with  similar  others  described  in  books  of  magic,  were 
not  all  that  suggested  the  idea.  There  were  and  are 
spontaneous  coincidences  between  people's  thoughts 
which  were  not  exposed  to  the  suspicion  of  prestidigi- 
tation and  so  made  the  question  of  their  explanation 
a  more  serious  one.  The  situation  gave  rise  to  the 
effort  to  organize  the  investigation  of  such  phenom- 
ena, and  experiment  succeeded  in  reproducing  similar 
coincidences  under  test  conditions.  The  phenomena 
did  not  seem  explicable  by  chance,  but  seemed  to 
indicate  some  causal  nexus  between  antecedent  and 
consequent,  and  as  this  was  unusual  the  best  thing 
to  do  was  to  denominate  it  by  a  term  which  did  not 
carry  with  it  any  associations  with  known  normal 
agencies. 

There  are  three  distinct  groups  of  coincidence  to 
which  the  popular  and  unscientific  mind  applies  the 
term  "  telepathy,"  and  only  one  of  these  to  which 
the  scientific  mind  applies  it.  The  first  group  of 
facts  is  that  which  is  comprised  of  the  present  active 
mental  states  of  the  agent  obtained  by  a  percipient. 
The  agent  is  the  person  whose  thoughts  are  sup- 
posedly transmitted:  the  percipient  is  the  person  who 
receives  the  thoughts  transferred.  The  second  group 
of  phenomena  consists  of  those  facts  which  a  per- 
cipient obtains  and  which  the  agent  present  at  the 
experiment  is  not  thinking  of  at  the  time,  but  has 
them  in  his  memory.  They  represent  experiences  or 
knowledge  which  he  once  had  and  which  he  may  or 
may  not  recall  at  the  time  they  are  reproduced  for 
308 


TELEPATHY 

him  by  another  person  or  psychic.  The  third  group 
of  facts  consists  of  those  which  represent  events  not 
known  by  the  agent  or  sitter  present  at  an  experi- 
ment but  which  can  be  proved  to  have  been  the  knowl- 
edge of  some  other  living  person  at  the  time  and  at 
any  distance  imaginable  from  the  place  of  the  experi- 
ment. This  assumes  that  the  percipient  can  select  at 
any  distance  from  the  memory  of  any  living  person 
such  facts  as  are  desirable  to  use  for  the  impersona- 
tion of  such  persons  as  may  suit  the  medium's  object, 
and  this  consciously  or  unconsciously.  This  is  the 
most  comprehensive  application  which  the  term  ob- 
tains and  is  complicated  with  various  incredible  con- 
ceptions of  rapport. 

The  first  of  these  conceptions  of  the  term  is  the 
only  one  that  is  entitled  to  any  scientific  standing. 
It  derived  its  significance  from  several  considerations 
which  associated  it  as  a  phenomenon  more  closely  with 
what  is  known  regarding  the  law  of  cause  and  effect 
than  in  any  case  involved  in  the  second  and  third 
group  of  facts.  The  first  thing  was  the  coincidence 
between  the  agent's  present  thoughts  and  those  which 
the  percipient  had  at  the  same  time.  But  this  was 
only  one  aspect  of  the  case.  The  suggestive  circum- 
stance was  the  fact  that  in  mechanical  phenomena 
the  antecedent  is  supposed  to  be  the  cause  of  the  con- 
sequent and  it  is  the  activity  of  the  antecedent  that 
enables  us  to  assume  causality  in  its  relation  to  the 
consequent.  The  fact  that  the  two  are  associated 
closely  in  time  and  space  is  the  circumstance  that 
enables  us  to  prove  this  causality,  though  it  might 
not  actually  constitute  it.  But  it  is  the  analogy  of 
309 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

telepathic  with  mechanical  coincidences  in  respect  of 
this  activity  that  makes  it  plausible  at  least  to  sup- 
pose a  causal  nexus  when  the  coincidence  is  observed. 
If  it  were  not  for  this  circumstance  it  is  possible  that 
we  should  never  think  of  the  direct  causal  connection 
in  telepathic  phenomena.  It  is  the  present  active 
state  of  consciousness  that  we  can  assume  to  be  a 
cause,  just  as  any  present  active  state  in  a  physical 
object  is  presumably  the  cause  of  some  event  in- 
variably associated  with  it.  It  is  probably  this  fact 
which  gives  telepathy  its  real  or  apparent  consistency 
with  the  materialistic  interpretation  of  mental 
phenomena.  But  whether  this  be  true  or  not,  it  is  the 
existence  of  mental  coincidences  between  different  per- 
sons taken  in  connection  with  the  assumption  that 
active  conditions  of  a  subject  may  be  causal  of  in- 
variable consequents  that  makes  the  idea  of  a  causal 
relation  of  a  supernormal  type  between  mind  and 
mind  a  reasonable  assumption. 

Now  the  evidence  of  some  causal  relation  is  appar- 
ent in  such  records  as  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,  and  I  shall  not  illustrate 
them  here.  I  shall  either  refer  those  who  are  not  con- 
vinced of  the  phenomena  to  those  records  or  take  for 
granted  that  the  phenomena  are  numerous  enough  to 
justify  the  assumption  of  a  nexus  not  due  to  chance 
in  such  cases,  and  then  proceed  to  indicate  what 
"  telepathy  "  means  when  applied  to  them.  All  that 
"  telepathy  "  means  and  meant  in  reference  to  these 
facts  is  that  they  are  not  due  to  chance,  but  that 
some  causal  relation  exists  between  the  antecedent 
and  consequent.  It  does  not  explain  the  phenomena 
310 


TELEPATHY 

in  any  respect.  It  is  not  a  name  for  a  cause  of  any 
kind  whatever.  It  only  indicates  that  the  normal 
causes  are  not  present  or  at  least  not  discoverable. 
In  so  far  as  causality  is  concerned  the  term  denotes 
no  positive  agency,  but  is  purely  negative  in  its  im- 
port. It  does  not  name  a  known  cause,  but  indicates 
that  the  known  causes  do  not  explain  the  facts  and 
that  some  as  yet  unknown  cause  must  account  for 
what  is  not  due  to  chance  and  so  they  bear  the  marks 
of  having  some  causal  agency  yet  to  be  found. 

This  limitation  of  the  meaning  of  the  term  should 
be  emphasized  and  repeated.  It  is  not  the  name  of 
any  cause  or  of  any  process  by  which  the  causal  nexus 
between  persons'  thoughts  is  established.  It  does 
not  explain  the  phenomenon,  as  is  too  frequently  sup- 
posed, but  actually  leaves  it  wholly  unexplained.  It 
is  merely  a  convenient  expression  to  denote  that  we 
have  gone  beyond  the  normally  explicable  and  are 
still  seeking  the  explanatory  cause.  Hence  so  far 
from  explaining  thought  coincidences  it  explains 
nothing  whatever.  It  only  names  the  facts  which  re- 
quire explanation  and  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  a 
psychic  researcher  to  deceive  the  reader  with  the 
assumption  that  phenomena  are  explained  by  it  de- 
serves the  severest  scientific  reprobation.  It  may 
well  indicate  that  a  phenomenon  is  not  explained  in 
some  other  way,  or  at  least  is  not  evidence  of  that  ex- 
planation, but  it  is  not  a  name  for  any  positive  causal 
agency  that  is  known,  though  it  may  become  known 
under  further  investigation.  It  only  refers  a  fact 
to  some  cause  yet  unknown  even  when  it  implies  that 
a  certain  specific  cause  is  not  indicated  bv  the  facts. 
311 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

The  fact  that  it  may  exclude  the  belief  in  spirit 
agency  does  not  make  it  an  explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomena concerned.  It  merely  indicates  that  the 
phenomena  which  had  associated  themselves  with  spir- 
itistic causes  are  to  be  explained  by  the  same  causes 
which  were  supposed  to  extend  beyond  the  normal 
action  of  sense  without  presenting  evidence  of  these 
immaterial  agencies. 

It  is  because  the  term  has  been  constantly  used  to 
denote  an  alternative  to  spiritism  that  its  original 
meaning  has  been  forgotten  or  ignored.  The  con- 
ception of  spirit  is  actually  explanatory  of  certain 
phenomena  and  in  criticizing  the  evidence  for  this 
view  of  them  the  possibility  of  telepathy  came  in  to 
eliminate  certain  facts  assumed  to  be  evidence  of  the 
former  and  in  this  comparison  of  the  two  ideas  telep- 
athy borrowed  an  explanatory  import  which  it  did 
not  and  does  not  possess.  The  reason  for  this  is 
the  simple  fact  that  every  problem  has  two  distinct 
aspects  which  we  too  frequently  forget.  They  are 
the  explanatory  and  the  evidential.  They  are  often 
so  closely  associated  that  they  may  be  mistaken  for 
one  another.     They  should  be  briefly  examined. 

The  explanatory  function  of  a  conception  is  to 
denote  a  cause  that  will  account  for  the  occurrence  of 
an  event.  Thus  gravitation  is  supposed  to  explain 
why  objects  fall  to  the  ground,  sunlight  is  an  agent 
in  accounting  for  the  growth  of  vegetation,  heat  is 
an  explanation  of  expansion  in  bodies,  electricity 
names  a  cause  in  a  great  variety  of  phenomena,  and 
so  on  with  hundreds  of  terms.  Now  when  any  new 
phenomenon  appears  demanding  an  explanation  and 
312 


TELEPATHY 

we  refer  it  to  one  of  these  we  already  take  their  exist- 
ence for  granted  and  the  new  phenomenon  is  not  an 
evidence  of  their  existence.  For  instance  I  find  a 
group  of  new  phenomena  in  the  behavior  of  certain 
physical  bodies,  phenomena  exhibiting  certain  re- 
semblances to  the  known  action  of  electricity,  and  I 
at  once  refer  the  phenomena  to  that  source.  I  do  so 
to  avoid  the  hypothesis  of  new  agencies.  If  known 
causes  explain  the  facts  I  have  no  reason  to  interpret 
these  facts  as  evidence  of  new  agencies,  and  the  new 
facts  are  not  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  assumed 
causes.  They  are  simply  explained  by  them.  If 
they  were  not  explained  by  them  we  should  have  a 
right  to  seek  new  causes  to  account  for  their  occur- 
rence. The  possibility  of  appealing  to  existing 
causes  to  account  for  new  facts  makes  it  unnecessary 
to  set  up  new  agents  in  the  cosmos,  and,  though  such 
new  agents  may  happen  to  exist,  we  have  to  seek  else- 
where for  evidence  of  the  fact.  Some  other  reality 
explains  the  phenomena  equally  well  and  when  that  is 
known  to  exist  on  other  grounds  the  new  facts  do 
not  appear  as  evidence  of  it.  They  are  simply  ex- 
plained by  it. 

The  evidential  aspect  of  a  problem  is  much  nar- 
rower than  its  explanatory.  There  are  fewer  situa- 
tions in  which  facts  serve  as  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  a  cause  than  when  they  are  explicable  by  it.  Facts 
will  serve  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  cause  only  when 
they  cannot  be  explained  by  known  agencies.  As 
long  as  alternative  causes  may  exist,  the  facts  ex- 
plicable by  any  one  of  them  are  not  proof  of  any, 
and  especially  not  proof  of  a  new  cause  whose  exist- 
313 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ence  may  possibly  be  questioned,  or  for  which  the 
evidence  is  less  than  well  known  agents.  Let  me 
illustrate  the  evidential  and  explanatory  aspect  of 
one  problem,  namely,  the  velocity  of  light.  A  phe- 
nomenon in  the  eclipse  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter  served 
to  prove,  or  render  most  probable,  the  fact  that  light 
had  velocity.  The  supposition  that  it  had  velocity 
might  very  well  have  been  entertained  as  a  corollary 
of  certain  other  facts,  but  proof  may  have  been  want- 
ing. Its  transmission  from  the  sun  to  the  earth  was 
an  admitted  fact  and  that  it  had  velocity  or  required 
a  period  of  time  for  this  transmission  could  be  ex- 
plained by  this  velocity,  if  we  could  show  that  time 
was  involved.  Consequently  when  certain  phenomena 
were  observed  in  the  eclipses  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter, 
they  seemed  to  prove  that  this  time  element  was  in- 
volved in  the  transmission  of  light.  For  instance  it 
was  noticed  that  at  one  period  the  eclipses  of  a  moon 
was  earlier  than  the  calculated  astronomical  time  and 
at  another  later  than  this.  This  fact  coincided  with 
the  fact  that  at  one  of  these  periods  the  light  had 
to  traverse  the  distance  represented  by  the  diameter 
of  the  earth's  orbit  greater  than  at  the  other  period. 
Consequently  the  difference  of  time  was  an  evidence 
of  velocity  in  the  transmission  of  light.  In  the  ordi- 
nary phenomena  of  sunlight  and  its  transmission  there 
is  no  situation  in  which  this  velocity  is  indicated,  and 
until  we  could  bring  the  phenomena  of  light  under 
the  law  of  luminous  undulations  there  would  be  no 
reason  to  suppose  from  that  circumstance  that  it  re- 
quired time  for  its  transmission.  But  the  proof  that 
it  required  this  time  created  a  presumption,  if  it  was 
314 


TELEPATHY 

not  proof,  that  undulations  were  the  cause  of  the 
lapse  of  time  in  the  transmission,  in  accordance  with 
known  laws  in  vibratory  phenomena,  while  the  lapse 
of  time  was  not  an  explanation  of  the  facts  but  an 
evidence  of  their  existence.  Or  to  take  a  much 
simpler  instance.  Sunlight  is  the  cause  of  vegetable 
growth,  at  least  one  of  its  causes,  but  this  growth  is 
not  the  evidence  of  sunlight.  Other  facts  have 
proved  to  us  that  the  sun  shines  and  we  have  found  in 
the  progress  of  inquiry  that  the  sunlight  is  more  or 
less  necessary  to  the  growth  of  vegetation. 

Now  when  it  comes  to  the  phenomena  which  gave 
rise  to  the  idea  of  telepathy  we  found  a  situation  in 
which  we  had  new  facts  not  explicable  by  known  and 
familiar  causes,  namely,  sense  perception  of  the  nor- 
mal type.  The  ordinary  explanation  was  excluded, 
but  a  new  one  was  not  thereby  established.  We 
simply  found  a  set  of  facts  which  required  some  new 
cause  and  as  we  had  no  known  process  for  rendering 
the  facts  intelligible  we  had  to  represent  them  as  in- 
volving some  causal  connection,  direct  or  indirect  be- 
tween living  minds,  that  still  had  to  be  determined. 
The  facts  were  evidence  of  this,  but  they  were  not 
explained  by  merely  coining  a  new  term,  as  the  pro- 
cess or  causal  agency  was  not  thereby  indicated.  The 
term  was  not  an  explanation,  nor  a  name  for  any  ex- 
planation, but  a  name  for  the  facts  requiring  a  new 
cause  still  to  be  determined. 

The  point  of  view  of  which  telepathy  is  supposed 

to  be  a  rival  hypothesis  is  the  spiritistic.     Both  have 

their  evidential  and  both  their  explanatory  functions. 

The  evidence  of  the  spiritistic  theory  is,  not  the  mere 

315 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

fact  of  the  supernormal,  or  facts  not  explicable  by 
normal  mental  action,  but  in  addition  to  the  super- 
normal, it  is,  incidents  bearing  upon  the  personal 
identity  of  deceased  persons.  If  we  are  to  believe  in 
spirits  of  any  kind  we  must  expect  them,  if  they  sur- 
vive, to  communicate  facts  which  besides  being  super- 
normal must  be  such  as  discarnate  spirits  would  most 
naturally  tell  in  proof  of  their  identity.  I  shall  not 
undertake  to  tell  what  such  facts  should  be.  I  leave 
this  to  the  reader  to  determine.  But  the  evidence  of 
the  theory  must  partake  of  the  character  described 
in  order  to  invoke  an  explanation  which  the  theory 
supposes.  But  this  evidence  must  exclude  an  alter- 
native hypothesis,  and  hence  any  phenomenon  classi- 
fiable with  telepathy  will  not  be  evidence  of  spirits 
whatever  we  may  think  of  the  latter's  capacity  for 
explaining  the  facts.  Nothing  is  clearer  than  the 
fact  that  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  is  capable  of  ex- 
plaining a  certain  type  of  phenomena,  but  the  funda- 
mental question  is,  whether  it  is  the  true  explanation, 
and  this  requires  us  to  obtain  the  evidence  for  it. 
Whether  the  hypothesis  has  any  evidence  in  its  sup- 
port is  not  the  problem  here,  and  I  am  not  concerned 
with  this  issue,  but  with  its  relation  to  telepathy  either 
as  a  fact  or  as  an  hypothesis.  As  remarked  the  evi- 
dence of  spirit  agency  must  be  some  type  of  facts 
illustrating  personal  identity  and  at  the  same  time 
probably  supernormal.  But  if  such  alleged  evidence 
can  be  classified  with  the  phenomena  which  are  termed 
telepathic  it  will  lose  its  character  as  proof  of  spirits. 
Hence,  though  telepathy  explains  nothing,  it  may 
limit  or  destroy  the  evidence  for  spirits,  provided  it  is 
316 


TELEPATHY 

comprehensive  enough  in  its  application  to  all  that  is 
explicable  by  spirit  agency.  It  is  therefore  not  a 
rival  theory  to  the  spiritistic  in  regard  to  explanation, 
but  only  in  evidential  matters. 

We  often  speak  of  "  explaining  "  certain  facts  by 
telepathy  and,  in  implying  that  they  are  explicable 
by  the  same  process,  this  is  legitimate  enough  way  of 
speaking.  But  classification  is  never  a  true  explana- 
tion. It  only  places  things  in  allied  groups  and  if 
the  cause  is  previously  known  the  explanation  is  im- 
plied, but  if  it  is  unknown  the  phenomena  so  classified 
remain  really  as  unexplained  as  before.  Telepathy 
is  this  sort  of  term.  It  only  classifies  and  does  not 
yet  imply  the  process  by  which  phenomena  are  pro- 
duced or  made  to  occur.  It  is  merely  a  term  for  plac- 
ing limitations  on  evidence,  not  a  term  of  explanation. 

I  have  been  using  the  word  for  the  moment  in  its 
widest  application  to  include  all  three  meanings 
noticed  at  the  outset.  I  have  done  this  as  a  conces- 
sion for  the  time  to  the  popular  conception  in  order 
to  indicate  the  extent  of  its  limitations  in  relation  to 
a  supposedly  rival  hypothesis.  But  it  is  time  to  show 
still  further  limitation  in  the  use  of  the  term.  I  deny 
the  legitimacy  of  the  second  and  third  meanings  of 
the  term.  That  is,  I  deny  that  there  is  any  evidence 
of  a  scientific  character  for  the  mind  of  one  person 
reading  another  in  any  such  way  as  is  implied  by 
selecting  incidents  either  from  the  memory  of  the  per- 
son present  or  from  the  memories  of  distant  and  un- 
known persons.  All  that  we  can  pretend  to  have 
scientific  evidence  for  is  the  acquisition  supernormally 
of  the  present  active  mental  states  of  the  agent  by  a 
317 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

percipient.  There  is  a  large  mass  of  facts  on  record 
which  answer  to  this  conception  of  the  matter  and 
there  is  as  yet  in  the  scientific  world  no  unanimity  of 
opinion  with  regard  even  to  this.  But  such  as  it  is, 
it  represents  the  only  body  of  scientific  evidence  which 
can  claim  to  represent  some  supernormal  connection 
between  one  mind  and  another,  and  this  connection  in 
all  but  four  or  five  incidents  is  synonymous  with  the 
present  mental  states  of  agent  and  percipient,  the 
person  whose  mind  is  read  and  the  person  who  reads 
it.  The  four  or  five  incidents  among  the  thousands 
of  facts  are  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  supposition 
that  the  memory  is  read  either  in  these  particular  in- 
stances or  in  the  whole  mass  of  evidence,  especially 
that  they  are  referable  to  deferred  association  which, 
as  we  know,  is  a  very  common  phenomenon  in  ordi- 
nary life.  The  overwhelming  mass  of  facts  claim- 
ing to  be  evidence  represents  present  active  mental 
states  and  whatever  we  may  think  of  subliminal  pro- 
cesses as  possibly  involved  in  the  results  it  is  clear  that 
there  is  no  such  selective  access  to  the  mind  of  the 
agent  by  percipients  as  would  be  implied  in  the  con- 
struction of  an  independent  personality.  The  phe- 
nomena sustain  an  analogy  with  what  is  known  in  me- 
chanical processes,  namely,  the  fact  that  the  cause  and 
effect  represent  present  and  non-selective  action.  It 
is  this  characteristic  that  gives  the  idea  of  telepathy 
its  conceivable  import. 

But  the  analogy  or  resemblance  to  mechanical  coin- 
cidences, suggesting  or  proving  a  causal  nexus,  re- 
ceives a  part  of  its  interest  or  significance  from  the 
circumstance    that,    in    mechanical    phenomena,    we 
318 


TELEPATHY 

know  or  suppose  something  about  the  nature  of  the 
process  involved  in  producing  the  effect.  Thus,  when 
we  strike  an  object,  the  noise  produced  is  supposed 
to  be  the  effect  of  transmitted  force  from  the  external 
object  to  the  subject  of  the  effect.  In  many  types 
of  phenomena  the  cause  is  supposed  to  be  some  mode 
of  motion,  as  in  the  case  of  sound  and  light,  or  the 
transmission  of  motion  in  mechanical  operations.  It 
is  not  the  mere  fact  that  we  have  an  antecedent  and 
consequent  to  contemplate  that  satisfies  us,  but  we 
imagine  or  believe  that  some  agency  in  the  form  of 
motion  is  involved  in  the  total  phenomenon  as  ren- 
dering it  intelligible  and  explicable.  But  in  real  or 
alleged  telepathy  we  have  no  such  supposition  to  guide 
our  judgments.  There  is  no  scientific  reason  or  evi- 
dence whatever  that  thought  is  connected  with  vibra- 
tions of  any  kind.  The  prevailing  belief  in  philo- 
sophic circles  is  that  mental  phenomena  are  not  modes 
of  motion  and  any  such  assumption  must  render  men- 
tal coincidences  such  as  are  involved  in  alleged  telep- 
athy quite  unintelligible  in  mechanical  terms.  This 
belief  of  philosophy  may  be  wrong  for  all  that  I 
know.  It  may  be  that  consciousness  is  either  consti- 
tuted by  or  associated  with  vibrations  or  undulations 
of  some  kind,  ethereal  or  material.  I  do  not  know, 
and  I  am  willing  also  to  say  that  I  do  not  care  one 
way  or  the  other.  But  until  there  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that  mental  states  are  associated  with  undula- 
tory  action  of  some  kind  in  a  way  to  affect  their  na- 
ture and  relations  with  each  other,  both  in  the  mind 
of  their  subject  and  between  different  minds,  there 
will  be  no  ground  for  identifying  them  closely  with 
319 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

mechanical  phenomena,  and  alleged  telepathic  coinci- 
dences will  not  be  assimilable  with  physical  facts  or 
events.  All  that  they  will  indicate  is  the  fact  of 
some  causal  relation  which  has  yet  to  be  determined. 
That  they  are  associated  with  present  active  mental 
states  of  a  certain  person  and  the  percipiency  of  an- 
other is  the  only  resemblance  with  mechanical  causes 
that  they  offer,  and  that  may  suffice  to  prove  phe- 
nomena not  due  to  chance,  but  it  does  not  make  them 
intelligible  to  physical  science,  at  least  in  any  such 
terms  as  are  usually  demanded  of  coincidences  demand- 
ing explanation  in  the  usual  manner.  They  remain 
facts  to  be  reckoned  with,  but  not  physically  ex- 
plicable. 

In  the  physical  world  it  is  the  present  active  cause 
associated  with  some  event  directly  connected  with  it 
in  time  and  space  that  gives  rise  to  our  conviction  of 
a  causal  nexus.  That  is  to  say,  we  must  have  as  evi- 
dence of  a  rational  causal  connection  the  coincidence 
between  a  consequent  and  an  antecedent  and  that  ante- 
cedent must  be  some  active  agency  which  will  com- 
mend itself  to  our  minds  as  the  probable  or  necessary 
fact  in  the  phenomena.  It  is  not  the  association  of 
an  event  with  any  passive  set  of  conditions  that  we 
find  in  proximity  to  it,  but  the  presence  of  an  active 
agency  that  gives  force  to  the  assumed  connection. 
Were  it  not  for  this  fact  we  should  probably  never 
think  of  a  cause  in  a  particular  case  of  antecedence 
and  consequence. 

Thus  a  flash  of  lightning  is  followed  by  a  clap  of 
thunder.  If  this  occurs  frequently  enough  I  am 
assured  of  the  causal  nexus.  But  I  would  naturally 
320 


TELEPATHY 

suspect  it  on  the  first  occasion  if  the  association  in 
time  and  space  were  close  enough,  and  repetition 
would  only  confirm  the  conjecture.  But  if  the  thun- 
der were  to  occur  two  or  three  days  after  the  flash  of 
lightning  I  would  not  suspect  a  causal  nexus  between 
them,  unless  I  could  discover  a  series  of  causally  re- 
lated phenomena  between  the  first  and  last  experience. 
We  have  to  get  some  continuous  connection  between  a 
nearer  and  remoter  fact  in  a  series  to  justify  the  sup- 
position of  a  causal  nexus.  Thus  when  I  see  and  hear 
the  action  of  a  locomotive  whistle  near  by  there  is 
practical  simultaneity  or  an  immediate  connection 
between  the  escape  of  the  steam  and  the  occurrence  of 
the  sound.  I  therefore  suppose  them  causally  related. 
But  would  I  as  easily  suppose  this  connection  if  I  saw 
the  steam  escape  a  mile  distant  and  heard  the  sound 
some  moments  later?  I  think  not.  But  if  I  have 
learned  that  sound  requires  time  to  transmit  its  vibra- 
tions to  a  distance  I  might  suspect  that  the  difference 
in  time  between  the  visual  and  auditory  experience  is 
accounted  for  by  the  difference  in  velocity  between 
light  and  sound,  and  I  could  then  suppose  an  imme- 
diate nexus  between  them  for  the  point  of  their  occur- 
rence and  an  apparent  discrepancy  at  a  distance. 
But  I  still  trace  the  causal  connection  through  the  in- 
tervening phenomena.  The  evidence,  however,  must 
begin  with  spatial  and  temporal  coincidences,  and  the 
causal  idea  associated  with  present  active  agencies. 
It  is  this  that  makes  explanation  possible  in  the 
physical  world. 

It  is  this  analogy  of  temporal  coincidence  between 
present  active  thoughts  in  agent  and  percipient  that 
321 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

suggests  a  causal  nexus,  especially  when  the  fact  is 
related  to  the  absence  of  such  apparent  connection 
between  latent  memories.  The  phenomena  which  sug- 
gest telepathy,  or  prove  it,  are  coincidences  between 
present  mental  states,  and  these  coincidences  must  rep- 
resent likeness  of  the  contents  in  mind.  Otherwise 
there  will  be  no  reason  whatever  to  suppose  a  causal 
nexus.  This  is  a  truism,  but  I  call  attention  to  the 
fact  for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  a  maxim  of 
scientific  procedure  in  the  matter.  This  is  that  simi- 
larity of  content  and  present  active  phenomena  are 
essential  to  the  idea  of  a  causal  relation  in  cases  of 
alleged  telepathy.  If  we  attempt  to  adopt  and  fol- 
low any  other  criterion  we  might  trace  a  causal  con- 
nection between  any  of  my  thoughts  and  the  similar 
thoughts  of  others  at  any  time.  We  never  attempt, 
however,  to  suppose  that  our  thoughts  to-day  are  con- 
nected either  with  the  same  thoughts  others  experi- 
ence at  the  same  time,  under  exactly  similar  condi- 
tions, or  with  the  thoughts  of  others  like  our  experi- 
ence at  some  previous  time  and  explicable  by  the  or- 
dinary processes  of  acquiring  knowledge.  We  have 
to  exclude  the  ordinary  access  to  sense  perception  and 
assure  ourselves  of  an  identity  of  thought  between  two 
subjects,  under  circumstances  to  suggest  a  direct  and 
not  a  parallel  or  coincidental  connection,  in  order  to 
suspect  a  relation  other  than  the  normal  one. 

Now  the  only  phenomena  which  have  suggested  a 
causal  nexus  between  mental  states  in  different  minds 
are  those  which  show  identity  and  temporal  coinci- 
dence along  with  evidence  that  the  coincidence  is  not 
due  to  similar  sensory  experience.  There  is  no  other 
322 


TELEPATHY 

evidence  of  telepathy  and  until  we  have  secured  evi- 
dence of  some  other  connection  we  are  not  entitled 
to  apply  the  term  telepathy  to  any  other  conception 
of  the  case.  We  have  to  define  our  conceptions  by 
the  phenomena  which  serve  as  evidence  for  the  hypoth- 
esis concerned.  If  the  phenomena  do  not  show  that 
likeness  of  kind  which  determines  their  classification 
we  cannot  apply  the  same  causal  explanation.  Thus 
we  do  not  apply  gravitation  to  the  phenomena  of  ad- 
hesion and  cohesion.  Neither  do  we  confuse  chemical 
affinity  with  any  of  these.  We  limit  each  of  these 
causal  ideas  to  the  types  of  phenomena  which  guar- 
antee their  existence.  It  must  be  the  same  with  telep- 
athy. We  have  no  evidence  whatever  that  it  occurs 
between  the  memories  of  an  "  agent  "  and  the  state- 
ments of  a  percipient.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  or 
suppose  that  the  fact  told  by  the  psychic  is  identical 
in  character  with  the  fact  in  the  memory  of  the 
"  agent,"  or  conjectured  "  agent."  There  must  be 
some  reason  to  believe  that  memories  are  active  causal 
agencies,  and  we  have  no  evidence  whatever  of  this. 
We  have  evidence  that  active  consciousness  is  a  causal 
agent  and  it  is  this  fact  which  gives  force  to  the  idea 
of  telepathy  when  identity  and  coincidence  between 
two  minds  occur  independently  of  ordinary  sensory 
experience. 

I  may  express  this  perhaps  in  another  way.  I  have 
indicated  that  telepathy  when  first  applied  to  mental 
coincidences  assumed  the  point  of  view  that  the  phe- 
nomena had  their  interest  in  the  hypothesis  that  the 
explanation  began  with  the  agent  and  not  with  the 
'percipient.  I  have  referred  to  the  analogies  with 
323 


Psychical  research  and  the  resurrection 

the  law  of  mechanics,  that  causal  explanation  started 
with  the  antecedent  phenomenon  which  might  be 
assumed  to  represent  or  to  indicate  the  cause.  In 
telepathic  phenomena  the  mental  state  of  the  agent,  if 
anything  can  be  supposed  to  be  the  cause,  might  be 
represented  as  such  and  the  percipient  is  the  passive 
recipient  of  what  is  transmitted  to  him.  The  point 
of  view  for  explanation  in  this  first  conception  of 
causality  was  the  antecedent  thought  of  the  agent, 
not  any  active  function  of  the  percipient.  Telepathy 
had  analogies  with  the  ordinary  phenomena  of  the 
transmission  of  force  or  motion. 

But  in  this  wider  import  of  the  term  it  assumes 
nothing  of  the  kind.  It  supposes  that  the  percipient 
is  the  primary  factor  in  the  work.  The  point  of  view 
for  explanation  is  completely  reversed.  Instead  of 
supposing  that  the  agent  is  the  primary  factor ;  that 
is,  that  the  mind  from  which  the  information  is  pre- 
sumably obtained  is  the  causal  agent,  the  telepathy 
which  explains  phenomena  having  at  least  a  super- 
ficial claim  to  a  spiritistic  source  assumes  that  the 
percipient  is  the  causal  agent  in  the  result:  that  is, 
instead  of  supposing  that  the  mind  from  which  the 
facts  are  presumably  obtained  is  an  influence  in  the 
result  it  assumes  that  the  mind  which  obtains  it  selects 
the  facts  from  the  other.  Instead  of  remaining  by 
the  conception  of  mechanical  analogies  in  which  the 
agent  is  the  cause  and  the  percipient  the  passive  re- 
cipient of  the  knowledge  it  supposes  that  the  per- 
cipient is  the  cause  and  the  other  mind  the  passive 
giver  of  the  facts.  That  is,  it  assumes  an  intelligent, 
not  a  mechanical  process.     The  relation  of  agent  and 


TELEPATHY 

percipient  is  completely  reversed.  In  the  original 
and  only  legitimate  application  of  the  term  telepathy 
the  agent  was  the  active  and  the  percipient  the  passive 
factor  while  the  new  a  priori  conception  is  that  the 
percipient  is  the  active  and  the  agent  the  passive 
power  in  the  phenomena.  In  addition  to  this  general 
reversion  it  is  noticeable  that  in  the  former  the  per- 
cipient is  not  intelligently  selective,  while  in  the  lat- 
ter it  is  infinitely  intelligent  and  selective.  The  whole 
mechanical  implications  of  the  older  meaning  are  lost 
and  abandoned.  And  they  are  abandoned  without 
evidence  of  any  kind,  other  than  that  it  is  not  respect- 
able to  accept  any  other  view.  The  fact  is  that  there 
is  not  a  particle  of  scientific  evidence  for  this  wider 
meaning  of  the  term.  It  is  not  enough  to  find  one 
or  two  incidents  which  seem  neither  like  what  has 
passed  for  the  older  meaning  of  telepathy  nor  appears 
as  evidence  of  transcendental  agencies.  Such  as  ap- 
pear to  be  neither  thought  transference  of  present 
mental  states  nor  evidence  of  discarnate  agencies  will 
have  to  be  multiplied  in  much  larger  quantities  and 
represent  much  better  quality  than  any  that  we  have 
yet  seen  before  we  are  entitled  to  suppose  a  causal 
relation  between  the  memories  of  others  and  the  super- 
normal information  which  mediums  give  us  relative  to 
the  deceased.  Before  we  can  admit  a  selective  telep- 
athy of  any  kind  we  shall  have  to  give  evidence 
which  does  not  coincide  with  facts  persistently  and 
uniformly  related  to  deceased  persons.  We  must 
have  the  limitation  of  the  facts  obtained  to  experiences 
of  living  persons  and  not  illustrative  of  the  identity 
of  deceased  persons.  Until  that  is  done  there  can  be 
325 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

no  scientific  evidence  whatever  for  this  assumed  "  se- 
lective telepathy."  I  am  not  questioning  the  fact  of 
it,  but  denying  that  there  is  evidence  for  it,  and  no 
man  can  pretend  to  be  scientific  who  indulges  in  the 
assumption  until  it  can  produce  satisfactory  evidence 
for  itself.  The  circumstance  that  a  supernormal  fact 
may  not  be  evidence  of  spirits  does  not  require  us  to 
explain  it  by  telepathy.  We  may  better  say  that 
we  have  not  found  the  explanation  than  to  assume 
the  necessity  of  telepathy  because  the  evidence  is  not 
for  spirits.  We  may  well  express  our  agnosticism, 
especially  that  spirits  might  explain  much  which  is 
not  evidence  of  their  existence,  if  once  we  have  found 
consistent  evidence  for  them.  What  I  remarked 
earlier  in  this  chapter  holds  here,  namely,  that  the  ex- 
planatory function  of  a  theory  is  wider  than  its  evi- 
dential, provided  that  the  phenomena  exhibit  any 
reasonable  relation  to  those  which  admit  of  a  given 
explanation. 

Briefly,  then,  this  selective  telepathy  involving  in- 
telligent action  of  the  percipient  as  distinct  from  the 
passive  recipience  of  knowledge  after  mechanical 
analogies  is  an  illegitimate  extension  of  the  term  in 
so  far  as  evidence  is  concerned,  and  science  can  take 
no  steps  without  evidence.  Of  course  such  telepathy 
may  be  a  fact,  but  it  has  no  credentials  at  present 
and  must  not  be  permitted  to  usurp  functions  which 
never  attached  to  the  term  as  scientifically  qualified. 
It  is  far  better  to  confess  ignorance.  We  may  fool 
for  a  while  those  who  are  not  intelligent  enough  to 
discover  our  equivocations,  but  we  shall  soon  find  our- 
selves in  the  company  of  those  self-complacent  people 
326 


TELEPATHY 

who  have  mistaken  the  nature  and  progress  of  clear 
thinking. 

All  this  explains  why  the  scientific  mind  regards 
the  popular  conception  of  telepathy  with  contempt. 
If  the  public  had  limited  its  conception  to  the  phe- 
nomena which  claimed  to  be  evidence  of  it  and  also 
had  not  assumed  that  the  phenomena  were  explained 
by  the  term,  their  convictions  might  have  received 
more  respect  from  scientific  students.  But  instead  of 
this  the  general  conception  of  telepathy  is,  not  only 
that  it  explains  certain  facts  of  mental  coincidence, 
but  that  it  explains  such  systematic  relations  between 
different  minds  as  simply  subliminal  and  supernor- 
mal conversations  of  great  range  and  complexity.  It 
also  assumes  too  readily  that  some  process  of  motion 
or  undulation  is  necessarily  associated  with  the  con- 
nection between  mind  and  mind,  or  constitutes  that 
connection.  There  is  not  one  iota  of  scientific  evi- 
dence for  the  idea.  It  may  be  legitimate  speculation, 
but  science  is  not  speculation  and  it  is  not  primarily 
explanation.  It  is  first  the  collection  of  facts  and 
evidence,  and  it  may  rest  content  with  this  result  until 
it  has  reason  to  accept  an  intelligible  causal  agency 
after  it  has  accumulated  sufficient  data  to  relate  its 
phenomena  to  some  systematic  cause.  In  the  present 
status  of  inquiry  into  the  relation  between  different 
minds,  it  will  not  accept  the  idea  that  telepathy  im- 
plies any  reason  to  believe  in  a  transcendental  access 
to  the  memories  of  people  at  any  distance  by  any  par- 
ticular person.  This  is  especially  true  when  scientific 
minds  are  called  upon  to  believe  that  the  mind  of  some 
psychic  can  select  as  it  pleases  the  person  from  whom 
327 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

it  shall  obtain  knowledge  of  the  past  and  select  this 
knowledge  with  reference  to  the  illustration  of  any 
particular  person  living  or  dead.  There  is  no  scien- 
tific evidence  whatever  that  such  supernormal  inter- 
communication is  possible.  It  is  an  inexcusable  abuse 
of  the  term  telepathy  to  apply  it  in  this  manner.  I 
do  not  believe  that  there  is  such  a  thing.  I  do  not 
say  that  I  would  not  believe  it  if  the  evidence  were 
produced,  but  I  must  limit  my  belief  to  that  for  which 
I  have  evidence,  and  I  deny  that  there  is  any  scientific 
evidence  for  such  a  fact  or  process  as  this  unlimited 
reading  of  minds  supposes. 

Telepathy,  I  repeat,  is  acquiring  present  active 
mental  states  in  a  supernormal  manner,  and  in  thus 
defining  it  I  do  not  imply  that  it  is  a  proved  fact.  I 
think  there  is  adequate  evidence  for  its  occasional  oc- 
currence. But  I  respect  the  scepticism  which  wishes 
to  have  more  evidence  before  accepting  it,  and 
especially  do  I  respect  the  scepticism  which  denies 
that  telepathy  can  filch  knowledge  subliminally  and 
systematically  from  living  people  at  pleasure.  The 
process  in  one  case  is  so  different  from  that  assumed 
in  the  other  that  there  is  no  rational  ground  for  iden- 
tifying their  relation  under  the  same  term.  Super- 
normal access  to  what  I  am  now  trying  to  transmit  to 
the  mind  of  another  person  is  one  thing,  and  it  is  a 
very  different  thing,  requiring  a  radically  distinct 
type  of  causal  action,  to  systematically  read  human 
minds  all  over  the  world,  to  collect  facts  illustrative  of 
the  personality  of  a  given  person,  living  or  dead.  It 
will  require  a  great  deal  of  evidence  to  prove  such  a 
thing,  and  the  evidence  will  have  to  be  very  different 


TELEPATHY 

from  that  which  we  have  in  illustration  of  something 
supernormal,  if  we  are  to  make  it  intelligible  on  any 
other  hypothesis  than  the  most  superficial  one. 

I  must  blame  psychic  researchers,  even  some  who 
ought  to  know  better,  for  permitting  this  illegitimate 
use  of  the  term  to  gain  currency.  Too  many  have 
used  it  to  blind  the  vision  to  its  relation  to  the  vari- 
ous problems  we  have  to  solve.  Let  me  summarize. 
There  has  been  a  tendency  to  apply  its  meaning  to 
phenomena  which  are  as  distant  from  those  which  it 
legitimately  names  and  classifies  as  are  chance  coinci- 
dences or  clairvoyance.  The  temptation  to  do  this 
arose  out  of  the  desire  to  avoid  admitting  or  tolerating 
a  less  respectable  theory.  But  it  must  be  emphasized 
that  it  is  not  an  explanatory  conception  of  any  kind. 
It  merely  classifies  a  certain  type  of  phenomena  hav- 
ing some  unknown  cause.  It  does  not  explain  any- 
thing whatever,  much  less  that  group  of  phenomena 
which  illustrate  the  imitation  or  production  in  some 
supernormal  manner  of  the  personality  of  others,  es- 
pecially the  deceased.  There  is  no  longer  excuse  for 
the  vague  use  of  the  term.  It  is  better  to  admit 
frankly  that  we  have  no  explanation  of  certain  phe- 
nomena than  to  pretend  to  knowledge  by  using  a  term 
of  unlimited  meaning,  equal  to  any  difficulty  we  meet, 
in  the  attempt  to  escape  a  cause  that  is  perfectly 
rational  and  simple.  It  is  time  to  insist  upon  the 
only  legitimate  use  of  the  term,  and  those  who  insist 
upon  employing  it  to  explain  all  the  mysteries  of  men- 
tal coincidences  and  the  reproduction  supernormally 
of  independent  personalities,  must  be  held  responsible 
for  their  action,  and  evidence  exacted  of  them  that 
329 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

their  assumption  has  adequate  credentials.  Until  this 
is  done  no  tolerance  can  be  given  to  speculations  based 
upon  assumptions.  Any  and  all  extensions  of  the 
term's  meaning  must  be  accompanied  by  the  scientific 
evidence  that  justifies  it.  We  are  not  entitled  to 
assume  the  larger  meaning  of  telepathy  to  be  a  fact 
because  we  are  not  sure  of  its  limitations.  Here  is 
where  we  have  been  negligent  of  the  maxims  of  scien- 
tific method  and  the  legitimate  formation  of  convic- 
tions. We  have  felt  reasons  for  accepting  a  causal 
connection  between  present  active  mental  states  and 
then,  from  the  desire  to  be  cautious  about  accepting 
some  other  explanation  of  proved  supernormal  phe- 
nomena, and  from  our  ignorance  of  the  limitations  of 
communication  between  mind  and  mind,  we  have  asked 
the  question  whether  the  memory  of  a  subject,  regard- 
less of  spatial  and  temporal  limitations,  might  be 
supernormally  ascertained,  and  then  from  the  habit  of 
tolerating  this  as  possible  have  jumped  to  the  belief 
that  it  is  a  fact,  without  any  adequate  scientific  evi- 
dence for  it.  There  would  have  been  no  temptation 
to  this  procedure  if  it  had  been  as  respectable  to  be- 
lieve in  something  more  intelligible. 

The  mental  condition  which  makes  this  tendency 
feasible  and  acceptable  is  one  that  follows  the  modern 
sceptical  method  which  does  not  always  distinguish  be- 
tween rationality  and  the  line  of  least  resistance.  We 
have  come  to  think  that  any  term  which  excludes,  or 
supposedly  excludes,  the  supernormal  and  the  "  super- 
natural "  is  a  clear  explanation  of  phenomena.  The 
fact  is,  however,  that  they  often  explain  nothing  and 
are  but  terms  for  our  ignorance.  But  the  modern 
330 


TELEPATHY 

propensity  for  the  "  natural,"  (which  does  not  mean 
what  it  once  did)  makes  us  think  that  any  term  that 
is  associated  with  the  "  natural,"  though  quite  mysti- 
fying in  its  connotation,  is  a  perfectly  satisfactory 
explanation  of  facts.  When  we  want  to  escape  some 
perfectly  clear  explanation  we  have  only  to  appeal  to 
vibrations,  telepathy,  clairvoyance,  etc.,  to  assure  our- 
selves a  place  among  the  wise ! 

Denn  eben  wo  Begriffe  fehlen 

Da  stellt  ein  Wort  zur  rechten  Zeit  sich  ein. 

This  habit  was  once  the  property  of  theology,  but 
it  seems  now  to  have  afflicted  the  spirit  of  science  at 
times.  But  whatever  it  is,  psychic  researchers  should 
be  the  first  to  correct  and  disillusion  the  popular  judg- 
ment in  the  matter.  We  gain  nothing  by  the  mere 
use  of  words  whose  meaning  is  not  clear  and  which 
only  conceal  our  ignorance  in  the  guise  of  a  pretended 
explanation. 


331 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

A  most  interesting  psychological  phenomenon  ex- 
ists in  the  expectations  which  many,  perhaps  nearly 
all,  people  entertain  regarding  what  psychical  research 
ought  to  accomplish  if  it  affords  any  evidence  of  a 
future  life.  It  is  the  avowal  of  incredulity  regarding 
it  on  the  ground  that  the  results  do  not  reveal  the  con- 
ditions of  that  existence,  what  it  is  like,  whether  it  is 
one  of  happiness  or  not,  what  its  employments,  etc.  I 
have  seen  many  articles  demanding  information  on 
these  points  before  the  existence  of  such  a  world  can 
be  regarded  as  credible.  I  have  also  talked  with 
many  who  see  the  matter  in  no  other  light.  Because 
we  cannot  tell  them  some  idyllic  story  of  the  trans- 
cendental world,  they  are  sceptical  of  the  only  facts 
that  can  possibly  prove  it,  and  virtually  concede  their 
willingness  to  believe  anything  impossible  if  we  will 
only  encourage  them.  In  spite  of  the  most  careful 
explanation  that  such  a  problem  as  the  conditions  of 
an  existence  in  another  world  is  not  the  primary  ques- 
tion, I  find  this  demand  for  knowledge  regarding  them 
so  widespread  and  so  deep-seated  that  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  examine  it  carefully  and  to  show  its  irrational 
character  from  both  a  scientific  and  a  moral  point  of 
view. 

In  the  first  place,  after  all  the  fraud  and  illusion 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  phenomena  of  secondary  per- 
332 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

sonality  on  the  other,  ordinarily  intelligent  men  ought 
to  recognize,  without  the  necessity  of  being  told  it, 
that  the  first  problem  is  one  of  personal  identity  after 
death,  if  any  transcendental  form  of  existence  is  to 
be  admitted  at  all.  The  fundamental  trouble  is  that 
most  people  assume  another  world  as  a  foregone  con- 
clusion, and  they  do  this  without  one  iota  of  evidence. 
With  this  taken  for  granted,  they  demand  to  know 
the  mode  of  life  in  it.  Moreover,  if  there  be  other 
conditions  of  existence  than  the  material  world  which 
we  know,  there  would  still  remain  the  open  question 
whether  any  independent  intelligence  either  possibly 
or  actually  existed  in  them.  The  religious  belief  in 
the  existence  of  spirits  counts  for  nothing  in  the  prob- 
lem unless  founded  on  some  kind  of  adequate  evidence. 
Scepticism  in  regard  to  this  fundamental  matter  must 
be  satisfied,  so  that  materialism,  or  the  conception  of 
things  for  which  that  doctrine  stands,  must  hold  the 
field  of  probabilities  until  the  evidence  is  sufficient  to 
indicate  the  continuance  of  personal  identity  after 
death.  That  is  the  primary  problem,  whose  solution 
conditions  inquiry  into  all  others.  I  do  not  say  or 
imply  that  any  adequate  answer  can  be  given  to  this 
question;  for  with  that  secondary  personality  and  its 
deceptive,  half -fiendish  simulation  of  spiritistic  ideas, 
and  the  possibilities  of  telepathy,  whose  limits  no  one 
can  define  at  present,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ease  with 
which  the  necessary  phenomena  can  be  fraudulently 
imitated,  the  task  of  proving  identity,  even  in  pre- 
sumably genuine  phenomena,  is  a  gigantic  one,  and 
until  it  is  done  scepticism  regarding  both  the  existence 
and  the  alleged  conditions  of  a  transcendental  life  and 
333 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

consciousness  must  be  conceded  its  rights.  Nor  do 
I  say  that  there  is  any  hope  of  attaining  knowledge 
of  those  conditions,  even  if  it  be  possible  to  determine 
the  fact  of  survival.  This  is  a  separate  problem. 
But  it  is  certain  that  if  we  wish  to  obtain  any  position 
making  it  rational  to  inquire  as  to  the  mode  of  life 
in  another  state  of  existence,  we  must  in  some  way 
establish  the  veracity  of  the  spirits  which  claim  to  re- 
veal themselves  to  us.  These  alleged  spirits,  however, 
must  prove  their  veracity  by  first  proving  their  iden- 
tity, their  present  and  previous  existence,  and  we  may 
then  reckon  with  their  statements  relative  to  their 
mode  of  life.  There  can  be  no  truce  with  the  man 
who  does  not  see  the  priority  of  personal  identity  to 
all  other  questions  of  psychical  research. 

I  understand  the  disposition  to  ask  for  the  condi- 
tions of  another  life,  but  I  cannot  grant  either  its  in- 
telligence or  its  morality.  Religious  considerations, 
connected  with  poor  morals  and  a  desire  for  irrespon- 
sibility in  conduct,  have  been  the  chief  influence  in 
determining  this  demand.  Revelation,  fortified  by 
the  poetry  of  Dante  and  Milton,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
ineradicable  instinct  for  immortality  and  happiness, 
has  fixed  men's  convictions  regarding  the  presumed 
fact  of  a  hereafter.  But  materialistic  scepticism  and 
the  progress  of  science  since  the  Renaissance  under- 
mined this  belief,  at  least  among  the  intellectual 
classes,  and  either  loosened  the  springs  of  hope  and 
morality,  or  offered  sound  moral  temperaments  the 
opportunity  to  display  the  virtues  of  stoics.  But 
amid  all  this  doubt,  reluctantly  entertained  often  even 
by  the  scientific  in  deference  to  the  sovereignty  of  rea- 
334 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

son,  human  instinct  among  the  generality  of  men  has 
been  strong  enough  to  subordinate  the  demand  for 
evidence  of  the  fact  of  a  future  life  to  the  curiosity 
regarding  its  character. 

But  I  must  demur  to  this  desire  for  knowledge 
where  it  is  either  impossible  or  unverifiable  when  as- 
sumed to  be  possible.  If  any  knowledge  of  the  condi- 
tions of  existence  hereafter  be  possible  at  all,  it  will 
only  be  after  the  most  prolonged  investigation,  involv- 
ing inductive  material  and  constructive  scientific  the- 
ories of  a  high  order  and  complexity  far  beyond  any- 
thing seen  in  Copernican  astronomy,  Newtonian  grav- 
itation, or  Darwinian  evolution.  Personally  I  have 
no  interest,  scientific  or  moral,  in  such  a  question,  con- 
vinced as  I  am  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  any 
intelligible  conception  or  evidence  of  such  conditions. 
I  must  even  question  the  morality  of  any  interest  in 
it.  A  man  must  be  very  conscious  of  what  his  deserts 
ought  to  be,  or  have  little  faith  in  the  order  of  nature, 
certainly  no  great  strength  of  character  to  withstand 
the  buffets  of  fortune,  if  he  raises  the  query  regard- 
ing the  consequences  of  his  present  life,  or  feels  curi- 
ous about  matters  that  bear  no  important  relation  to 
his  present  environment  and  duties.  The  limits  of 
human  knowledge  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  tempta- 
tions to  libertinism  on  the  other,  are  such  that  it  is 
easy  for  the  average  man  to  fall  into  the  position  of 
either  a  fool  or  a  knave:  a  fool  if  he  does  not  know 
and  appreciate  the  rights  of  scepticism  regarding 
both  the  fact  and  the  nature  of  a  transcendental  world, 
and  a  knave  if  he  would  abolish  the  influences,  even  if 
they  are  not  of  an  ideal  sort,  that  make  for  some  kind 
335 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  virtue  in  a  being  who  craves  liberty  more  than  he 
respects  the  monitions  of  conscience.  Of  this  again, 
if  we  have  time,  as  I  must  return  to  the  main  issue. 
This  is  the  dilemma  between  the  impossibility  and  the 
unverifiability  of  all  knowledge  about  the  mode  of 
existence  beyond  the  grave,  even  after  we  have  as- 
sumed that  the  fact  of  it  is  proved,  or  the  belief  in  it 
justified. 

There  are  two  arguments  for  this  contention,  which 
may  be  discussed  at  some  length.  They  are  (1)  the 
impossibility  of  making  any  statements  regarding  an- 
other world  intelligible  to  any  ordinary  human  un- 
derstanding limited  to  sensory  experience,  and  (2) 
the  mental  and  other  conditions  under  which  commu- 
nications from  such  a  world  must  probably  take  place. 

The  most  elementary  training  in  psychology,  or 
even  the  simple  observation  of  every-day  life,  ought  to 
teach  a  man  the  necessary  difficulties  in  the  way  of  un- 
derstanding any  statements  about  another  life.  If 
those  statements  describe  it  in  terms  resembling  our 
own  world,  we  must  naturally  set  them  down  as  ab- 
surd. It  would  not  be  another  and  transcendental 
world  if  so  described.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they 
describe  it  as  different,  we  can  neither  conceive  it  nor 
prove  it  in  terms  of  what  we  generally  recognize  as  in- 
telligible. In  either  case  accounts  of  it  are  perfectly 
worthless.  We  are  limited  in  our  knowledge  to  the  ex- 
periences of  the  senses  in  so  far  as  the  data  are  con- 
cerned by  which  a  world  becomes  intelligible.  Our 
language  represents  the  experiences  of  vision,  hear- 
ing, touch,  and  the  other  senses  to  a  minor  degree. 
When  we  name  a  fact  it  is  a  phenomenon  of  these 
336 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

senses  that  we  name,  and  these  experiences  cannot  be 
made  interchangeable  with  each  other.  They  are 
only  associable  or  capable  of  being  connected  in  time 
in  the  same  consciousness.  In  all  the  higher  and  ab- 
stract conceptions  or  theoretical  constructions  of 
science  the  reference  is  always  to  data  that  are  purely 
sensory.  We  picture  a  horse  in  the  form  in  which 
it  is  seen,  unless  we  are  blind,  when  either  the  sound 
of  its  neighing  or  feelings  of  touch  represent  the 
meaning  of  the  term  to  us.  Laura  Bridgeman  had, 
and  Helen  Keller  has,  to  identify  the  meaning  of 
terms  in  experiences  of  touch  alone.  In  general,  then, 
things  are  intelligible  to  us  only  in  terms  of  sensory 
experience,  no  matter  how  refined  our  conceptions 
become. 

Now  unless  we  admit  that  the  transcendental  world 
exists  in  space  relations  like  our  own,  and  that  the 
theosophical  doctrine  of  the  "  astral  body,"  which  is 
described  as  a  fac-simile  of  the  physical  body,  repre- 
sents the  nature  of  the  case,  and  that  there  is  a  spir- 
itual universe  that  is  the  analogue  of  the  physical, 
this  world  can  have  no  sensory  resemblance  whatever 
to  our  present  conditions,  and  so  cannot  be  described 
in  our  existing  language.  But  there  is  no  adequate 
evidence  of  any  "  astral  body  "  doctrine,  and  certainly 
the  facts  and  significance  of  psychical  research  will 
have  to  be  admitted  if  the  doctrine  can  have  even  a 
plausible  possibility  assumed  in  its  favor.  But  apart 
from  this  supposed  analogy  between  the  two  worlds, 
we  can  no  more  expect  a  statement  about  it  to  be  in- 
telligible than  we  should  expect  a  person  who  had  no 
sense  of  touch  and  only  the  sense  of  vision  to  make  his 
337 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

visual  experiences  clear  to  one  who  had  the  sense  of 
touch  and  not  that  of  sight.  We  know  how  difficult 
it  is  to  establish  communication  with  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  even  with  all  the  common  points  of  experience 
and  interest,  and  how  additionally  difficult  it  is  to 
make  certain  experiences  intelligible  to  them  after  the 
communication  is  established.  In  fact,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  give  them  an  idea  of  an  auditory  world  of 
sound,  and  only  the  most  obscure  analogies  drawn 
from  the  experience  of  feeling  or  emotion  can  suggest 
to  them  a  meaning  of  any  kind  in  that  sense,  and  this 
meaning  is  not  in  terms  of  sensation,  but  only  in  those 
of  the  emotional  element  common  to  all  the  senses, 
with  a  difference,  too,  for  each  sense.  Witness  the 
cases  of  Laura  Bridgeman  and  Helen  Keller,  to  whom 
I  have  already  referred.  It  would  naturally  be  the 
same  with  the  description  of  a  world  beyond  the  grave. 
The  "  astral  body "  doctrine  would  not  alter  this 
statement.  Whatever  analogies  it  offers  to  our 
present  world,  they  are  too  few  and  too  little  like  ours 
in  detail  to  help  the  case.  Its  connecting  links  are 
not  even  as  useful  as  those  between  the  normal  man 
and  the  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind.  It  would  fail  at  every 
point  except  the  one  of  space  relations,  and  these  seem 
also  to  desert  it  in  important  aspects.  But  without 
this  conception,  and  in  all  other  respects  than  its  own 
analogy,  it  would  be  impossible  to  communicate  any- 
thing sensible  to  us  about  the  transcendental  world, 
and  hence,  if  it  exists,  whatever  we  can  learn  about 
it  must  be  learned  there,  and  not  here. 

A  discarnate  spirit  would  have  some  hope  of  estab- 
lishing its  identity.     This  can  be  accomplished  by  re- 
338 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

ferring  to  its  past,  not  its  present.  Memory  is  the 
condition  both  of  our  sense  of  personal  identity  and  of 
the  proof  of  this  identity,  whether  in  this  or  any 
other  life.  If,  then,  personal  identity  and  the  sense 
of  it  survived  the  event  of  death,  and  if  any  possible 
conditions  for  communication  with  a  terrestrial  world 
occurred,  a  discarnate  spirit  could  hope  to  prove  that 
identity  by  reference  to  its  past.  Its  language  would 
be  intelligible  not  by  virtue  of  its  present  conditions 
or  its  reference  to  them,  but  by  virtue  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  facts  on  this  side.  The  statements  would 
be  intelligible  because  they  described  terrestrial  facts. 
But  we  have  no  assurance  that  the  same  language 
would  be  intelligible  when  applied  to  the  description 
of  the  "  other  side  " ;  on  the  contrary,  the  assurance 
is  against  its  possibility.  Besides,  it  is  noticeable  in 
the  attempts,  reported  by  various  persons,  to  give 
such  descriptions  that  the  combination  of  terms  is  not 
that  which  is  most  natural  to  us  in  either  our  sensory 
or  our  rational  experience.  Secondary  personality, 
of  course,  illustrates  the  same  phenomenon,  and  were 
it  not  that  this  fact  nullifies  the  assumption  that  we 
are  ever  really  dealing  with  spirit  communications,  we 
might  have  in  the  absurd  association  of  conceptions 
purporting  to  be  spiritistic  very  good  illustrations  of 
the  impossibility  of  making  a  transcendental  world 
intelligible  to  our  experience.  But  we  do  not  need 
actual  communications  to  prove  this.  It  is  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  our  ps3rchological  nature,  and  if 
mankind  were  sufficiently  acquainted  with  philosophy 
since  Locke  and  Kant,  they  would  take  this  impossi- 
bility as  an  axiom.  We  might,  after  a  hundred  years' 
339 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

investigation  and  accumulation  of  data,  form  some 
highly  abstract  ideas  of  such  a  world,  but  they  would 
not  be  intelligible  to  mankind  in  general. 

When  it  comes  to  what  is  called  empirical  evidence 
for  this  contention  it  is  not  easy,  if  possible  at  all,  to 
supply  it  with  assurance.  Empirical  evidence  is  that 
of  facts  representing  actual  communications,  but  the 
extreme  difficulty  is  that  of  showing  them  to  be  what 
they  claim  to  be.  Such  as  we  have  and  to  which  we 
can  appeal  at  all  is  found  in  the  Piper  case,  where  we 
assume  that  the  demands  of  personal  identity  are 
probably  satisfied.  In  my  own  experiments  with  that 
case,  however,  there  is  practically  nothing  illustrat- 
ing the  matter  at  hand. 

There  is  another  very  important  reason  for  not  ac- 
cepting descriptions  of  the  next  life  as  intelligible. 
This  is  the  apparent  mental  confusion  connected  with 
the  communications  purporting  to  come  from  spirits. 
It  is  evident  in  the  content  of  the  messages,  and  can 
be  recognized  without  believing  that  they  have  a  spir- 
itistic origin. 

It  is  worth  remarking  that  this  view  of  the  case  is 
borne  out  by  the  direct  assertions  of  the  alleged  spirits 
themselves.  They  state  that  they  are  dazed  or  con- 
fused while  communicating.  Assuming  such  a  con- 
fused state  of  mind,  it  would  seem  only  natural  that 
the  subject  should  be  seriously  hampered  in  the  at- 
tempt to  describe  its  life.  A  semiconscious  state  or  a 
dazed  condition  in  our  own  lives  is  not  favorable  to 
an  intelligible  account  of  anything  whatever  that  we 
have  experienced.  If,  then,  a  discarnate  spirit, 
assuming  that  it  exists,  becomes  mentally  confused 
340 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

from  the  influence  of  the  various  circumstances  under 
which  it  is  necessary  to  communicate  with  us,  it  is  ap- 
parent that  there  must  be  great  difficulty  in  telling  us 
anything  at  all,  and  especially  anything  intelligible 
about  a  transcendental  world  and  its  life. 

This  brings  us  to  the  phenomena  of  double  person- 
ality, which  are  now  becoming  quite  familiar  to  the 
scientist,  though  he  has,  as  yet,  no  clear  explanation 
of  them.  The  facts  are  definite  enough.  They  are 
represented  in  somnambulism,  hypnosis,  certain  forms 
of  insanity,  and  cases  of  the  lost  sense  of  personal 
identity.  They  involve  the  suspension  of  normal 
consciousness  or  memory,  so  that  when  the  normal 
consciousness  returns  there  is  no  recollection  of  what 
has  transpired  during  the  secondary  state.  These 
cases  often  represent  all  the  appearances  of  two  dis- 
tinct persons,  or  parallel  streams  of  consciousness  in 
the  same  organism,  though  their  manifestation  is 
rather  consecutive  than  simultaneous.  This  is  the 
reason  that  the  phenomena  are  called  those  of  double 
personality,  or  even  multiplex  personality,  as  there 
are  cases  of  numerous  distinct  streams  of  mental  ac- 
tion. Generally  the  normal  consciousness  has  no 
memory  of  the  abnormal;  and  sometimes,  if  not  gen- 
erally, the  abnormal  has  either  no  memory  of  the  nor- 
mal at  all,  or  no  apparently  self-conscious  recollection 
of  it.  The  normal  consciousness  is  called  the  pri- 
mary, and  the  abnormal  the  secondary  or  tertiary  con- 
sciousness, as  the  case  may  be.  Now  it  is  the  usual 
cleavage  between  these  separate  streams  of  activity 
that  constitutes  the  main  point  of  interest  for  us.  It 
must  be  emphasized. 

341 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

There  are  all  grades  and  degrees  of  distinction  be- 
tween the  primary  and  secondary  streams,  from  an  in- 
termixture of  their  data  to  their  absolute  separation, 
the  latter  perhaps  being  the  prevalent.  We  may 
then  say  that  we  generally  find  no  conscious  appro- 
priation of  the  facts  of  one  personality  by  another. 
That  is  to  say,  the  primary  consciousness  does  not 
know  what  the  secondary  state  experiences.  This  is 
perhaps  all  but  universal,  and  in  cases  of  the  deeper 
secondary  states  the  cleavage  seems  to  be  absolute. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  secondary  personality,  if  it 
appropriates  the  experiences  of  the  primary  conscious- 
ness and  memory  at  all  (and  in  some  cases  it  does  not 
seem  to  do  so),  shows  no  conscious  knowledge  of 
their  origin  in  the  primary  consciousness,  but  recalls 
them  in  a  fragmentary  and  automatic  way,  and  indi- 
cates considerable  cleavage  between  them.  There  are 
exceptions  to  this  statement,  but  they  do  not  affect 
the  general  rule.  To  illustrate  this  rule,  a  man  un- 
der hypnosis  may  forget  his  own  name  and  most  of 
the  facts  of  his  normal  experience  and  memory.  He 
may  recall  only  a  few  capricious  incidents  in  his  past 
life,  and  these  wholly  non-representative  of  his  char- 
acter, and  he  may  combine  with  his  narrative  all  sorts 
of  dream-like  utterances,  not  indicative  of  anything 
but  mental  confusion.  I  recently  hypnotized  a  man 
who,  in  this  secondary  condition,  had  completely  for- 
gotten his  name  and  age,  but  he  recalled  two  facts 
which  I  was  able  to  prove  belonged  to  his  normal  state. 
But  he  could  remember  nothing  else  except  the  names 
of  some  of  his  companions,  and  these  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  his  dazed  condition  after  an  accident  in 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

which  he  lost  normal  consciousness.  Yet  he  could 
talk  about  things  that  he  said  took  place  a  thousand 
years  ago,  and  which  demonstrably  did  not  take  place 
then,  but  which  possibly  had  been  partly  experienced 
in  his  normal  condition.  The  cleavage  between  the 
two  personalities  in  this  case  was  almost  as  great  as 
between  two  different  persons  whose  individual  streams 
of  consciousness  never  interpenetrate,  even  when  telep- 
athy may  be  supposed  to  suggest  such  interpenetra- 
tion. 

Now  if  we  suppose  that  a  discarnate  spirit  has  to 
assume  an  abnormal  and  secondary  condition  like 
hypnosis,  somnambulism,  or  subliminal  mentality,  we 
may  easily  understand  two  probable  effects  that  might 
follow,  after  what  has  just  been  said.  They  are  (1) 
confusion  and  triviality  in  the  messages  delivered,  and 
this  wholly  independent  of  the  disturbing  influence  of 
conditions  external  to  the  communicating  mind  and 
supposed  to  exist  between  the  terrestrial  and  tran- 
scendental worlds,  and  (2)  separation  from  a  clear 
knowledge  of  the  normal  life  and  consciousness  on 
the  "  other  side."  The  condition  necessary  for  com- 
munications of  any  sort  may  be  that  rare  state  be- 
tween total  unconsciousness  in  which  no  messages  can 
be  given,  and  that  normal  spiritual  state  in  which 
also  no  messages  may  be  given,  so  far  as  we  know. 
It  may  be  a  state  in  which  the  subject  is  wholly  un- 
conscious of  its  normal  life  beyond  and  conscious  only 
of  its  past,  and  even  of  this  only  in  the  fragmentary 
way  of  secondary  personality.  Or  it  may  be  a  state 
in  which  the  subject  may  be  partly  conscious  of  its 
normal  life  beyond  and  also  partly  conscious  of  its 
343 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

past.  In  one  of  the  cases  we  should  get  nothing 
whatever  of  the  life  on  the  "  other  side,"  and  in  the 
other  too  little  to  be  intelligible,  even  if  we  were  quali- 
fied to  understand  it  when  correctly  reported.  It  is 
also  not  only  possible,  but  it  is  most  natural  psycho- 
logically considered,  that  contact  with  terrestrial  con- 
ditions should  suggest  terrestrial  memories.  This, 
however,  would  be  truer  at  first  than  afterwards.  But 
the  existence  of  a  secondary  state  as  a  condition  of 
communicating  would  follow  known  analogies  if  it  cut 
the  communicator  off  more  or  less  from  the  tran- 
scendental life  and  its  experiences.  So  much  for  the 
possibilities. 

Have  we,  however,  any  evidence  that  a  secondary 
or  confused  state  of  mind  exists  in  the  act  of  commu- 
nicating ?  The  answer  to  this  question,  of  course,  de- 
pends on  our  first  having  satisfied  the  demands  of  per- 
sonal identity.  If  the  difficulties  proposed  in  the 
Piper  phenomena  by  a  combination  of  telepathy  and 
secondary  personality  have  been  sufficiently  overcome, 
we  may  suppose  that  the  identity  of  deceased  persons 
has  been  satisfactorily  established.  Assuming  this 
for  the  purpose  of  the  present  argument,  I  can  reply 
to  the  above  question  with  an  affirmative.  This  evi- 
dence of  a  confused  state  of  mind  is  often  not  only 
clearly  indicated  by  the  messages,  but  is  also  as  often 
connected  with  peculiar  traces  of  important  facts  in 
the  midst  of  much  confusion. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  evidence  for  this  confusion. 
They  are,  first,  the  internal  character  of  the  commu- 
nications, and  second,  the  direct  statements  of  the 
communicators.  The  most  important  illustration  of 
344 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

the  first  type  is  the  condition  of  things  which  seems 
to  necessitate  an  alternation  of  communicators.  A 
communicator  can  stay  but  a  short  time.  What  the 
exact  cause  of  this  is  we  do  not  know.  But  it  is  an  in- 
variable fact,  and  the  character  of  the  communication 
at  the  termination  of  one  of  these  periods  often  runs 
off  into  great  confusion  and  dreamy  nonsense,  like  the 
drivel  of  secondary  personality.  This  is  very  prettily 
illustrated  in  one  of  my  own  sittings,  where  the  com- 
municator twice  exclaimed  (so  to  speak,  as  the  mes- 
sage came  in  automatic  writing),  "  Give  me  my  hat," 
just  as  he  left  off  communicating.  This  language 
had  no  connection  with  the  rest  of  the  communica- 
tions, but,  strange  enough,  my  inquiries  brought  out 
accidentally  that  the  communicator  in  life  was  accus- 
tomed to  use  this  very  expression  in  situations  like 
this  when  suddenly  called  to  go  out-of-doors.  Here 
we  apparently  have  a  secondary  state  suddenly  ap- 
proaching syncope,  so  to  speak,  and  the  psychological 
situation  elicits  automatically,  by  ordinary  associa- 
tion, the  very  phrase  which  the  person  was  accus- 
tomed to  utter  in  partly  similar  circumstances  in  life. 

On  another  occasion  this  same  communicator  told 
me  a  story  about  a  fire  that  had  once  given  him  a 
fright,  and  described  the  case  so  extravagantly  that  I 
considered  it  false.  This  was  early  in  my  experi- 
ments. Much  later  he  recurred  to  the  same  incident 
spontaneously,  and  told  it  in  more  sober  terms,  re- 
marking that  he  was  often  confused  when  trying  to 
tell  me  facts. 

In  the  attempt  to  get  my  step-mother's  name  rightly 
a  singular  incident  took  place.  Her  name  had  been 
345 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

given  wrongly  in  all  communications  regarding  her 
until  I  discovered  what  was  probably  intended,  and 
asked  for  the  right  one.  It  had  been  confused  with 
that  of  my  aunt  Nannie,  the  right  name  being 
Maggie.  It  was  first  given  Mannie  and  then  Nannie. 
In  the  effort  to  give  it  rightly,  after  I  had  asked  for 
it,  the  communicator  recognized  very  clearly  his  dif- 
ficulties and  confusion,  and  in  the  attempt  to  explain 
why  it  had  occurred,  said:  "  Help  me.  Oh,  help  me 
to  recall  what  I  so  longed  to  say.  My  own  mother 
Nannie.  I  —  Wait.  I  will  go  for  a  moment." 
Now  his  own  mother's  name  was  not  Nannie.  It  was 
Margaret,  and  the  same  as  that  of  my  step-mother. 
But  Nannie  was  the  name  of  his  sister,  and  was  the 
name  with  which  he  had  confused  that  of  my  step- 
mother, as  indicated  above.  A  little  later  the  com- 
municator explained  that  in  this  attempt  to  straighten 
out  the  confusion  he  thought  of  his  own  mother  and 
sister  at  the  same  time.  This  confusion  is  a  very 
pretty  illustration  and  evidence  of  the  mental  dif- 
ficulties under  which  discarnate  spirits  apparently 
labor  in  their  attempts  to  make  themselves  intelligible. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  at  times  the  confusion  is 
due  to  the  rapidity  of  thought  in  comparison  with 
the  greater  slowness  of  the  writing.  We  know  that 
our  thoughts  flow  more  rapidly  than  we  can  write 
them,  and  that  we  have  to  make  an  effort  to  control 
their  movement  in  the  interest  of  our  writing.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  discrepancy  at  times  is  due  to  this 
or  an  analogous  phenomenon.  But  quite  often  it  is 
a  different  mental  condition  altogether. 

On  one  occasion,  for  instance,  in  illustration  of  a 
346 


THE    NATURE    OF    LIFE    AFTER    DEATH 

disturbed  consciousness,  my  uncle  in  trying  to  com- 
municate lost  completely  the  sense  of  personal  iden- 
tity, and  had  to  cease  his  attempts,  when  my  father 
(I  use  the  spiritistic  lingo  for  clearness)  suddenly 
appeared  with  the  half -humorous  remark,  "  Yes, 
Hyslop,  I  know  who  I  am,  and  Annie  too,"  the  latter 
being  the  name  of  my  deceased  sister. 

Take  another  instance.  My  father  said,  after  ap- 
parently mentioning  my  step-mother :  "  And  yet  I 
am  thinking  of  F**  [asterisks  mean  that  the  rest  of 
the  name  could  not  be  deciphered  in  the  original 
automatic  writing]  and  my  visit  to  him.  I  mean  your 
brother  .  .  .  [pause]  brother  .  .  .  Hear 
it?  Annie  ...  I  want  to  help  father  to  re- 
member everything,  because  I  came  here  first  and  long 
ago." 

Now  my  sister  had  died  in  1864  and  my  father  in 
1896.  F  is  the  initial  of  my  brother  Frank.  My 
father  never  paid  a  visit  to  him,  but  he,  together  with 
my  step-mother,  made  a  visit  to  friends  in  Pennsyl- 
vania with  my  brother  Frank  in  1873. 

In  the  matter  of  testimony  to  this  confusion  the 
illustrations  are  quite  as  interesting.  Apropos  of  the 
possible  rapidity  of  thought  as  a  disturbing  influence, 
after  mentioning  the  name  of  an  old  favorite  horse 
in  the  family,  my  father  suddenly  changed  to  some- 
thing else  to  which  there  is  no  clew  as  to  what  was 
intended,  and  said :  "I  am  thinking  about  it  now, 
and  everything  I  ever  knew,  I  believe,  because  my 
mind  travels  so  fast,  and  I  try  to  get  away  from  the 
rest  as  much  as  possible.  I  think  of  twenty  things 
all  at  once."  After  some  further  confused  references 
347 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

he  remarked,  "  Ah,  James,  do  not,  my  son,  think  I  am 
degenerating  because  I  am  disturbed  in  thinking  over 
my  earthly  life,  but  if  you  will  wait  for  me  I  will 
remember  all,  everything  I  used  to  know."  Over  and 
over  again  he  asserts  that  he  is  confused  when  trying 
to  communicate,  and  several  times  remarks  that  when 
he  is  not  communicating  his  memory  is  clear.  In  fa- 
vor of  this  is  the  fact  that  often  clear  messages  are 
sent  just  as  Mrs.  Piper  returns  to  her  normal  con- 
sciousness, as  if  this  could  be  done  at  an  opportune 
moment  just  before  the  conditions  disappear  that 
make  it  possible,  and  while  the  communicator  is  far 
enough  from  the  ordinary  conditions  of  the  trance  to 
maintain  a  better  mental  equilibrium. 

One  more  illustration.  In  allusion  to  some  com- 
munications at  sittings  much  earlier,  my  father  said: 
"  I  am  here,  and  I  am  thinking  over  the  things  I  said 
when  I  was  confused.  Do  you  remember  of  my  tell- 
ing you  I  thought  it  possible  that  we  might  live  else- 
where? But  to  speak  was  doubtful,  very.  .  .  . 
Ah,  yes,  we  do  speak,  although  vaguely  at  times. 
Ah,  but  we  ...  at  best  ...  we  do. 
.  What  is  on  my  mind  at  present  is  the  condi- 
tions which  help  me  to  return."  This  is  one  little  in- 
cident among  a  number  of  others  more  evidential  and 
connected  with  several  conversations  with  my  father  on 
the  subject  of  spirit  return,  and  in  which  I  doubted 
the  possibility  of  any  such  thing  as  communications. 
The  reader  can  see  for  himself  both  the  confusion  and 
the  evident  consciousness  of  the  communicator  that  he 
suffers  from  it. 

There  is  much  interesting  testimony  in  Dr.  Hodg- 
348 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 

son's  sittings  bearing  on  the  same  question.  The 
reader  can  determine  for  himself  by  reading  Dr. 
Hodgson's  report  the  numerous  instances  of  this  men- 
tal confusion  as  evidenced  by  the  contents  of  the  mes- 
sages. I  shall  here  limit  myself  to  a  few  testimonial 
illustrations  of  the  confusion  as  given  by  some  of  the 
communicators.  George  Pelham,  (pseudonym),  who 
died  in  1892,  and  who  succeeded  in  establishing  his 
identity  sufficiently  to  quote  his  statements,  remarked 
on  one  occasion  to  Dr.  Hodgson,  "  Do  not  talk  too 
fast,  because  I  am  in  a  daze,  so  to  speak."  On  an- 
other occasion  he  explained  to  Dr.  Hodgson  at  some 
length  the  condition  of  mind  in  which  he  had  to  get  in 
order  to  communicate. 

"  Remember  we  have,  and  always  shall  have  our 
friends,  in  the  dream  life  —  i.  e.,  your  life,  so  to 
speak  —  which  will  attract  us  forever  and  forever,  and 
so  long  as  we  have  any  friends  sleeping  in  the  ma- 
terial world;  you  to  us  are  more  as  we  understand 
sleep,  you  look  shut  up  as  one  in  prison,  and  in  order 
for  us  to  get  into  communication  with  you,  we  have 
to  enter  into  your  sphere,  as  one  like  yourself  asleep. 
This  is  just  why  we  make  mistakes,  as  you  call  them, 
or  get  confused  and  muddled,  so  to  put  it,  H.  You 
see  I  am  more  awake  than  asleep,  yet  I  cannot  come 
just  as  I  am  in  reality,  independently  of  the  medium's 
light." 

The  reader  must  remark  the  use  of  the  word 
"  sleep  "  in  this  passage,  apparently  indicating  that 
the  communicator  was  at  a  loss  to  describe  the  condi- 
tion of  his  mind  when  communicating.  We  know 
that  hypnosis  in  some  conditions  and  respects  resem- 
349 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

bles  sleep,  and  that  sleep  is  a  natural  analogy  of  it, 
often  perhaps  more  favorable  to  the  establishment  of 
a  connection  with  the  normal  consciousness  than  hyp- 
nosis. But  aside  from  all  technical  comparison  be- 
tween the  two  states,  we  have  in  this  communication 
of  George  Pelham  a  recognition  of  a  fact  which  we 
might  possibly  infer  from  the  contents  of  many  com- 
munications. Direct  testimony  in  this  instance  coin- 
cides with  the  inference  that  we  should  most  naturally 
make  from  the  character  of  the  data. 

Another  communicator  remarked  to  Dr.  Hodgson, 
"lama  little  dull,  H.,  in  the  head  "  ;  and  on  another 
occasion,  while  saying  something  about  a  cigar-case 
for  the  purpose  of  proving  his  identity,  suddenly  said, 
"  Am  I  dreaming?  "  as  if  aware  of  the  confused  and 
dream-like  drift  of  consciousness  in  the  act  of  com- 
munication. 

But  one  of  the  most  interesting  testimonies  to  the 
position  here  advanced  is  rather  indirect,  and  at  the 
same  time  affords  some  evidence  of  the  spiritistic  the- 
ory of  the  phenomena.  What  I  have  already  quoted 
can  hardly  claim  this  character.  But  a  friend  of 
this  George  Pelham,  deceased  and  purporting  to  com- 
municate with  him  through  Mrs.  Piper,  was  the  sitter. 
He  is  called  Mr.  Hart  in  the  report.  This  Mr.  Hart 
was  much  puzzled  with  the  confusion  in  the  com- 
munications and  the  evidence  of  an  apparently  de- 
generating personality,  if  he  had  to  suppose  that 
he  was  dealing  with  his  friend  George  Pelham.  But 
not  long  after  his  sittings  this  Mr.  Hart  himself  died 
in  Paris,  and  soon  turned  up  to  communicate,  and 
found  that  he  could  not  succeed  so  well  as  his  friend 
350 


THE  NATURE  OF  LIFE  AFTEE  DEATH 

George  Pelham  had  done,  and  on  one  occasion  indi- 
cated some  aggrievance  because  he  did  not  have  the 
opportunity  to  communicate  so  often  as  he  wished. 
He  said :  "  What  in  the  world  is  the  reason  you 
never  call  for  me?  I  am  not  sleeping.  I  wish  to 
help  you  in  identifying  myself.  I  am  a  good  deal 
better  now."  (Dr.  Hodgson:  "You  were  confused 
at  first." )  "  Very,  but  I  did  not  really  understand 
how  confused  I  was.  It  was  more  so  —  I  am  more 
so  when  I  try  to  speak  to  you.  I  understand  now 
why  George  spelled  his  words  to  me." 

Mr.  Hart  had  to  learn  on  the  "  other  side  "  the 
facts  which  explained  the  former  confusion  of  George 
Pelham,  and  the  incident  here  crops  out  as  an  interest- 
ing piece  of  evidence  for  personal  identity,  while 
it  attests  the  fact  of  mental  confusion  in  the  act  of 
communication. 

Evidence  of  this  sort  could  be  multiplied  almost  in- 
definitely, but  this  is  sufficient  to  illustrate  my  point. 
Now  if  the  cleavage  between  the  normal  consciousness 
of  a  discarnate  spirit  and  its  condition  necessary  for 
communicating  is  like  the  cleavage  between  primary 
and  secondary  personality,  even  though  it  is  not  al- 
ways so  great,  we  can  readily  understand  both  the 
dearth  of  material  reflecting  the  conditions  of  life  in 
the  transcendental  world  and  the  return  of  the  per- 
son's consciousness  to  terrestrial  memories,  and  also 
the  tendency  to  trivial  recollections,  as  this  latter  fea- 
ture is  characteristic  of  all  disturbed  consciousness. 


351 


CHAPTER  XII 

PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Serious  discussions  of  the  resurrection,  as  described 
in  the  New  Testament,  have  almost  passed  out  of  no- 
tice, even  in  the  field  of  theology.  In  my  early  life 
and  during  my  college  education,  it  received  attention 
in  apologetics.  But  since  that  time  the  subject  has 
almost  disappeared  from  intelligent  interest.  Lecky's 
verdict  on  Miracles  seems  to  apply  to  this  topic,  and 
indeed  includes  it.  Nothing  can  be  clearer  in  the 
biblical  literature  of  the  past,  including  the  New  Tes- 
tament, than  the  important  and  central  place  occupied 
by  the  story  of  the  resurrection.  The  whole  fabric  of 
Christianity  rested  upon  its  integrity,  whatever  inter- 
pretation was  placed  upon  it,  at  least  for  the  rational 
theory  of  the  system.  This  is  as  true  for  Roman- 
ism as  for  Protestantism.  Both  made  the  Christian 
system  depend  on  the  validity  of  the  incidents  com- 
prised in  the  idea  of  the  resurrection,  because  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  was  the  key-note 
of  the  religion  which  supplanted  Paganism  and  Ma- 
terialism. But  gradually  science  undermined  this  be- 
lief as  it  has  many  others,  and  often  religion,  to  save 
itself  or  some  of  its  social  and  spiritual  ideals,  palters 
with  the  word  and  escapes  the  duty  of  stating  itself 
frankly  and  honestly  on  the  issue  which  defines  its 
own  authority. 

I  do  not  here  either  assert  or  deny  the  importance 
352 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  the  doctrine  which  so  engrossed  the  human  mind 
during  the  centuries  preceding  the  triumph  of  phy- 
sical science.  I  am  not  reviving  dead  controversies, 
but  stating  the  facts  and  tendencies  of  history.  It 
may  not  be  important  either  to  believe  or  to  deny  the 
story  of  the  resurrection.  Many  will  still  think  it 
important  to  hold  and  defend  that  belief.  I  do  not  af- 
firm or  deny  this.  All  that  is  important  here  to 
remark  is  the  place  which  it  once  had  in  the  deter- 
mination of  human  allegiance  to  religion,  at  least 
the  Christian  religion.  That  it  was  the  central  is- 
sue in  the  validity  of  Christianity  for  long  cen- 
turies will  hardly  be  questioned,  and  was  ap- 
parently made  so  by  those  who  saw  no  reason  to  ac- 
cept that  religion,  unless  the  integrity  of  the  belief 
in  the  resurrection  could  be  sustained.  But  it  is  as 
clear  to  all  intelligent  men  to-day  that  the  doctrine 
either  has  no  such  important  place  or  is  evanescent, 
if  not  actually  dead.  What  the  logical  mind  has  to 
ask  in  the  face  of  such  an  admitted  fact  is,  what  basis 
can  the  system  have  which  made  its  ideals  and  hopes 
rest  upon  a  belief  which  is  now  no  longer  accepted? 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  plainest  interpre- 
tation of  the  New  Testament  is  that  the  resurrection 
was  intended  to  mean  that  of  the  physical  body,  at 
least  in  the  application  of  it  to  Christ.  The  doc- 
trine of  St.  Paul  for  the  human  race  at  death  was 
most  probably  applied  to  the  "  spiritual "  and  not  to 
the  physical  body.  But  the  clearest  import  of  the 
New  Testament  teaching  regarding  Christ  was  that 
his  body  arose  from  the  dead  after  the  crucifixion 
and  was  seen  as  in  life  by  his  disciples  and  others. 
353 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

The  most  natural  inference  from  this  was  that  the 
resurrection  of  others,  at  the  day  of  judgment,  would 
be  that  of  the  body.  We  know  how  the  ages  came  to 
believe  in  that  view,  and  it  does  not  matter  for  us 
at  this  day  whether  the  interpretation  was  correct  or 
not.  In  the  definition  which  the  belief  received 
through  the  process  of  discussion  afterward  we  have 
the  issue  which  thinking  minds  had  to  meet,  and  this 
was  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  was  conditioned 
on  the  resurrection  of  the  physical  body  which  it  had 
inhabited  during  its  natural  life.  The  interpretation 
of  New  Testament  doctrine  which  led  to  this  view 
did  not  assume  that  there  was  any  source  of  natural 
error  in  the  accounts  of  Christ's  resurrection.  Va- 
rious influences  tended  to  suppress  inquiry  into  the 
nature  of  biblical  authority  on  such  matters,  or  to 
prevent  revision  of  the  narratives  on  which  it  was 
founded.  That  the  reporters  were  honest  in  their 
statements  was  either  taken  for  granted  or  made  evi- 
dent by  the  accounts  themselves,  and  that  they  were 
honest  will  be  admitted  by  all  who  are  familiar  with 
the  records,  or  the  evidence,  such  as  it  is.  But  there 
was  no  disposition  to  reckon  with  other  difficulties 
than  the  honesty  of  informants.  That  there  should 
be  mal-observation,  illusion,  and  unconscious  distor- 
tion of  the  facts,  and  imperfections  of  record,  in  the 
accounts  was  not  sufficiently  appreciated  by  early 
students  of  the  narratives,  and  hence  it  was  supposed 
that  we  had  adequate  data  for  accepting  the  story  of 
the   resurrection  in  its  literal  form. 

It  was  more  natural  until  the  17th  century  to  ac- 
cept the  possibility  of  a  resurrection  than  since  the 
354 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

revival  of  science.  We  must  remember  that  the  be- 
lief in  its  possibility  was  supported  by  the  theistic  in- 
terpretation of  the  world.  This  view  of  the  cosmos 
was  a  definite  denial  of  the  fundamental  assumption 
of  Greek  philosophy  in  its  later  period.  This  as- 
sumption was  the  eternity  of  matter.  Early  Greek 
thought  admitted  the  created  nature  of  the  world  as 
we  knew  it  in  sense  perception.  That  is,  the  sensible 
universe  was  believed  to  have  been  formed  in  some  way, 
whether  by  an  intelligent  agency  or  the  fortuitous 
combination  of  elements.  Wherever  the  elements  were 
assumed  they  were  supposed  to  be  permanent  or  eter- 
nal. The  Epicurean  school  laid  great  emphasis  upon 
this  and  it  was  the  dominant  point  of  view  at  the  time 
of  the  Christian  era.  In  its  opposition  to  this  view, 
Christian  theology  had  two  alternatives  before  it. 
( 1 )  It  could  rely  upon  the  argument  of  design  to 
show  that  the  order  of  the  sensible  cosmos  was  not 
due  to  chance,  but  to  intelligent  arrangement.  This 
was  practically  the  position  of  Plato  and  others.  The 
eternity  and  uncreated  nature  of  the  elements  so  ar- 
ranged was  granted.  The  function  of  a  deity  was 
not  creation  but  the  orderly  arrangement  of  things, 
in  this  view  of  the  world.  (2)  It  could  extend  the 
idea  of  power  to  the  creation  of  the  very  elements 
as  well  as  the  sensible  order  of  things.  It  could  hold 
that  all  matter,  whether  sensible  or  supersensible,  was 
created.  This  latter  alternative  was  the  one  taken, 
and  it  had  the  advantage  of  displacing  matter  by  an- 
other principle  as  the  eternal  basis  of  things.  The 
conception  that  matter  was  ephemeral  or  phenomenal, 
whether  in  its  sensible  or  supersensible  form,  placed 
255 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

spirit  in  the  position  of  the  physical  as  the  permanent 
background  of  the  world.  Spirit,  not  matter,  be- 
came the  eternal,  and  as  personality  or  intelligence 
was  the  essential  characteristic  of  spirit,  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  supposing  it  capable  of  recreating  the 
body  at  the  end  of  the  world  as  it  was  assumed  to 
have  created  it  for  this  life.  Every  conception  which 
would  endow  the  new  point  of  view  with  probability 
was  found  in  the  doctrine  of  the  theism,  namely,  intel- 
ligence, power,  and  morality.  That  the  source  of 
things  was  personal  made  it  probable  that  its  end 
would  be,  and  immortality  followed  as  a  natural  se- 
quence. The  respect  and  worship  which  the  divine 
received  was  a  surety  that  its  character  could  be 
trusted  to  fulfill  hope  and  aspiration.  Deity  had 
to  fulfill  the  hopes  it  had  inspired,  as  a  condition  of 
retaining  the  character  and  reverence  which  it  had 
received.  Spiritual  life  was  not  any  longer  at  the 
mercy  of  the  "  elements."  It  had  its  own  basis  and 
was  not  dependent  on  the  contingencies  of  material 
embodiment  for  its  existence  or  destiny.  It  had  a 
supposed  subject  placed  on  a  basis  as  well  guaranteed 
as  any  other  fact. 

The  consequence  was  that,  during  all  the  centuries 
until  the  revival  of  science,  the  theistic  point  of  view 
had  full  sway  and  it  was  easy  to  believe  in  the  possi- 
bility of  a  physical  resurrection.  The  reverence  for 
the  past  and  the  exaltation  of  authority  strengthened 
this  wider  view,  and  men  no  more  questioned,  or  could 
question,  the  possibility  of  a  bodily  survival  or  resur- 
rection than  they  could  the  existence  of  an  absolute, 
and  it  was  natural  to  add  the  fact  of  it  to  the  concep- 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tions  which  they  took  of  the  order  of  creation.  The 
plain  interpretation  of  the  Bible  had  nothing  offensive 
in  it,  because  it  did  not  contradict  the  fundamental 
theory  of  the  universe.  The  order  of  things  was  not 
conceived  as  an  inexorable  fate  without  intelligence, 
but  as  an  intelligent  and  ethical  order,  and  such  a  view 
carried  with  it  every  possibility  which  was  found  in  the 
basic  doctrine  of  creation  and  providence. 

But  all  this  was  changed  by  the  revival  of  learning 
with  its  reinstatement  of  Greek  ideals  and  philosophy. 
The  direct  study  of  nature  supplanted  the  dependence 
on  authority  and  reverence  for  the  past.  Each  indi- 
vidual felt  the  desire  and  the  power  to  judge  of  na- 
ture for  himself.  The  meager  accounts  of  the  world 
that  came  from  priestcraft  and  superstition  did  not 
satisfy,  and  the  emancipated  human  intellect  sprang 
with  unbounded  enthusiasm  into  the  new  field  of  in- 
terest. Almost  the  first  step  in  its  inquiry  resulted 
in  the  indestructibility  of  matter  and  the  conservation 
of  energy.  These  apparently  undermined  the  funda- 
mental position  of  theism.  Theology  had  enjoyed 
perfect  immunity  in  its  claims  as  long  as  it  could 
maintain  the  ephemeral  nature  of  matter  and  the  per- 
manent character  of  spirit.  But  the  moment  that 
matter  became  the  permanent  substratum  of  things 
again  there  were  two  claimants  for  the  throne  of 
the  universe,  and  just  to  the  extent  to  which  the  hu- 
man mind  feels  confidence  in  the  ultimate  unity  of  the 
cosmos,  as  against  what  is  called  a  dualistic  interpre- 
tation of  it,  to  that  extent  will  belief  accept  any  the- 
ory which  makes  its  claims  of  unity  good.  Now  the 
indestructibility  of  matter  and  the  conservation  of 
357 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

energy  were  accepted  as  indubitably  proved.  This 
proof  came  in  the  determination  of  certain  indubita- 
ble facts,  and  the  speculative  doctrines  of  theology 
were  based  upon  assumptions  which  were  not  experi- 
mentally supported,  and  with  experiment  as  the  new 
test  of  truth  the  way  was  clear  for  science  as  op- 
posed to  theology.  Matter  again  became  the  eternal 
and  spirit  the  ephemeral  concomitant  of  it,  a  func- 
tion of  matter,  not  its  director  or  creator.  The 
change  in  the  point  of  view  was  absolute  and  the  ul- 
timate consequences  inevitable.  Consciousness,  in- 
stead of  being  the  function  of  a  soul  which  was  not 
dependent  on  matter  for  its  existence,  became  the  ac- 
companiment or  accident  of  material  compounds. 
Spirit  became  the  phenomenal  thing,  or  at  least  had 
its  claims  to  support  upon  an  entirely  different  basis. 
The  body  became  the  first  condition  of  its  existence, 
that  is,  of  consciousness  and  hence  any  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  had  to  rely  upon  the  assumption  that 
the  bodily  organism  would  be  revived  in  some  way, 
if  personal  life  were  possible  beyond  the  grave. 

Everything  in  the  new  philosophy  tended  to  dis- 
pute the  possibility  of  survival,  and  especially  the 
restoration  of  the  bodily  organism.  The  law  of  the 
world  was  one  of  constancy,  not  the  action  of  a  free 
will.  All  that  observation  showed  was  a  succession 
of  species,  not  the  permanence  of  the  individual,  and 
physiology  added  its  evidence  to  the  dependence  of 
consciousness  on  the  body  with  no  hope  that  the  same 
basis  for  consciousness  could  be  reinstated,  in  the 
absence  of  a  divine  agency  whose  existence  seemed 
not  to  be  required  in  the  new  system.  The  confidence 
358 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

in  the  constancy  of  nature,  which  was  a  fixed  and  in- 
variable order,  and  the  absence  of  evidence  of  a  posi- 
tive kind  that  consciousness  could  survive  bodily  con- 
ditions, conspired  to  give  scepticism  its  triumph.  In- 
telligent men  thought  they  could  not  any  longer  main- 
tain the  immortality  of  the  soul  on  the  ground  that 
the  story  of  the  physical  resurrection  was  true.  The 
original  attack  on  Greek  materialism  had  been  made  on 
this  alleged  fact,  and  then,  when  such  phenomena 
had  not  been  repeated,  philosophy  had  to  fall  back 
upon  a  system  of  theism  to  support  the  probability 
of  its  hopes.  But  when  the  theistic  interpretation  of 
nature  lost  its  main  basis,  namely,  the  phenomenal 
character  of  matter,  everything  depending  on  this 
fundamental  postulate  had  its  integrity  attacked  to 
the  same  extent.  The  belief  in  the  original  allega- 
tions, besides  the  loss  of  its  basic  assumptions  about 
matter,  had  to  contend  with  the  demands  for  ordi- 
nary scientific  evidence.  There  was  no  way  to  save 
the  story  of  the  resurrection  from  the  antecedent  prob- 
abilities of  the  new  theory  of  matter,  and  whatever 
allegiance  it  retained  in  spite  of  the  progress  of 
physical  science,  it  had  to  meet  the  criterion  which 
science  imposes  on  every  conviction,  namely,  that  it 
supply  present  evidence  for  its  contention. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  logical  tendencies  of  the 
mind  when  it  has  to  accept  the  doubtfulness  of  the 
facts  on  which  its  most  important  ideals  and  hopes 
have  been  based.  The  doctrine  of  immortality  had 
founded  a  new  civilization  and  supported  all  its  ethi- 
cal and  political  ideals,  and  this  immortality  had  been 
based  upon  the  theory  of  the  resurrection,  which 
359 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

claimed  to  find  its  defence  in  a  philosophical  scheme 
of  the  universe,  but  which,  traced  to  its  historical 
source,  depended  wholly  upon  the  integrity  of  the 
story  of  Christ's  bodily  resurrection,  as  that  had  been 
interpreted.  But  science  was  not  in  the  habit  of  mak- 
ing a  large  theory  of  things  dependent  on  an  isolated 
event.  Such  phenomena  might  be  a  ground  for  pause 
or  investigation,  but  not  for  a  reconstruction  of  the 
cosmos.  But  when  it  came  to  the  assertion  of  human 
immortality  on  the  ground  that  a  single  instance  of 
bodily  resurrection  had  been  alleged,  especially  in  the 
period  that  marked  the  dissolution  of  Greco-Roman 
society  when  ignorance  and  superstition  were  so  rife, 
it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  confidence  in 
scientific  method  would  be  shaken  by  such  a  story. 
It  makes  no  difference  what  the  facts  were.  The 
point  we  are  making  is  the  habit  of  the  human 
mind  in  the  use  of  its  established  laws  of  nature.  In 
all  our  daily  life  we  have  to  regulate  belief  and  ac- 
tion by  the  constancy  of  nature,  even  though  we  may 
be  obliged  ultimately  to  investigate  the  ground  of  this 
constancy.  But  having  found  that  this  constancy 
shut  out  the  occurrence  of  resurrection  as  a  law  of  the 
natural  order,  there  was  nothing  left  but  scepticism 
for  isolated  events  not  apparently  consistent  with 
human  experience.  With  this  went  every  conclusion 
which  had  rested  on  the  original  belief,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  a  physical  resurrection  easily  became  a  relic 
of  the  past,  a  belief  which  science  could  not  sustain. 
There  would  be  no  special  interest  in  the  mere  fact 
of  Christ's  resurrection,  whether  bodily  or  otherwise. 
Science  might  ask  why  such  an  exceptional  event 
360 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

took  place.  But  it  would  have  no  other  interest  in 
it.  The  chief  interest  attaching  to  it  was  the  mean- 
ing applied  to  its  occurrence.  This  was  its  refuta- 
tion of  the  Epicurean  materialism  and  the  implica- 
tion of  survival  after  death.  Hence  it  was  its  relation 
to  the  doctrine  of  immortality,  as  we  well  know,  that 
gave  the  alleged  fact  all  its  interest  and  importance. 
No  one  would  care  a  penny  whether  the  incident 
was  true  or  false,  unless  certain  other  interests  were 
associated  with  it,  and  all  apologetics  had  made  the 
belief  in  a  future  life  to  hinge  upon  this  single  in- 
stance of  resurrection  as  against  the  universal  obser- 
vation that  bodies  perished.  The  consequence  was 
that  immortality,  in  losing  its  basis,  lost  the  confidence 
which  had  been  reposed  in  it  as  an  ethico-political  be- 
lief. It  became  a  secondary  matter  in  the  construc- 
tion of  life  and  its  ideals.  The  economal  and  materi- 
alistic view  supplanted  it,  and  we  are  to-day  living 
in  the  atmosphere  of  that  changed  point  of  view. 
The  reaction  has  set  in  and  has  not  yet  reached  its 
full  development.  It  refuses  to  construct  the  universe 
upon  exceptional  phenomena  unless  they  can  be 
shown  to  have  a  law  of  their  own.  It  doubts  the  oc- 
currence of  merely  isolated  events  and  seeks  to  find 
their  repetition,  even  though  they  be  more  or  less 
sporadic.  Hence  unless  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life 
can  secure  credentials  in  the  evidence  of  present  oc- 
currences proving  it,  the  belief  takes  an  unsupported 
place  in  the  system  of  human  convictions,  and  must 
suffer  the  destiny  of  all  beliefs  which  cannot  claim  the 
defence  of  reason  and  general  experience. 

I  repeat  that  it  does  not  matter  whether  New  Tes- 
361 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tament  facts  and  statements  have  been  misinterpreted. 
The  heritage  of  human  belief  was  a  doctrine  of  the 
bodily  resurrection,  and  we  have  to  face  that  claim 
whatever  the  original  belief  may  have  been,  or  what- 
ever the  real  facts  were.  Hence  clear  thinking  re- 
quires us  to  clearly  affirm  or  deny  the  doctrine  of  a 
physical  resurrection  as  a  condition  of  a  future  life. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  all  intellectual  minds 
scepticism  has  taken  the  place  of  belief  and  all  efforts 
to  sustain  that  belief  has  the  whole  weight  of  science 
to  contend  with  and  can  never  do  more  than  sophisti- 
cate men  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  problems  of 
thought. 

But  while  we  cannot  accept  the  proverbial  story  of 
the  resurrection  from  the  point  of  view  of  science, 
there  may  be  a  view  of  it  which  will  bear  scrutiny  and 
which  would  have  all  the  meaning  that  history  and 
tradition  have  attached  to  it.  But  this  will  not  be  ap- 
parent until  we  have  seen  the  antecedent  concep- 
tions which  led  up  to  the  story.  This  new  interpreta- 
tion of  the  facts  is  the  result  of  the  light  which  psy- 
chic research  throws  on  the  past.  It  would  hardly 
have  been  suspected  but  for  this  new  point  of  view, 
and  it  has  had  sufficient  influence  on  the  mind  of  a  man 
like  Mr.  Frederick  W.  H.  Myers  to  induce  him  to  say 
in  his  work  on  Human  Personality  and  its  Survival  of 
Bodily  Death,  perhaps  with  more  confidence  than 
the  circumstances  permitted,  but  yet  with  some  in- 
sight into  the  modified  tendencies  of  the  present  day 
interest  in  the  problem,  that  within  a  century  all 
reasonable  men  would  believe  in  the  resurrection  of 
Christ.  Whatever  view  the  future  takes  of  it,  how- 
362 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ever,  the  philosophic  conceptions  of  the  Greco-Roman 
period  will  have  to  be  taken  into  account  when  inter- 
preting it,  and  also  the  phenomena  which  recent  years 
have  reinstated  in  human  interest  but  which  the  period 
between  the  present  and  primitive  Christianity  came 
to  be  disregarded  for  lack  of  methods  and  criteria  for 
determining  their  value. 

If  we  wish  to  understand  how  the  idea  of  the  resur- 
rection became  distorted  we  have  only  to  look  at  the 
general  variation  between  philosophic  and  common 
minds  in  regard  to  the  same  events  at  any  time.  The 
uneducated  man  to-day  represents  things  in  a  man- 
ner which  will  not  bear  investigation  in  the  light  of 
science,  though  he  actually  has  an  important  fact  or 
truth  at  the  basis  of  his  conceptions.  We  are  all  too 
familiar  with  this  to  make  more  than  a  cursory  men- 
tion of  it  here  and  I  leave  the  matter  to  readers  for  il- 
lustration in  their  own  experience.  I  wish  to  lay  the 
stress  of  this  aspect  of  the  matter  before  us  on  the 
relation  between  the  current  philosophic  conceptions 
at  the  time  of  Christ  and  the  story  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. To  make  this  clear  we  must  briefly  indicate  the 
general  trend  of  Greek  thought  which  had  deter- 
mined the  conceptions  against  which  Christianity  was 
a  protest,  especially  the  materialism  of  the  Epicu- 
reans. 

The  Greek  had  a  genius  for  the  enjoyment  of  na- 
ture. So  much  so  that  all  his  pessimism,  when  it  dis- 
played itself  at  all,  was  the  reflection  of  the  transitory 
character  of  life  or  the  limitations  under  which  his 
coveted  joys  had  to  be  obtained.  This  "  nature " 
which  attracted  him  so  much,  aesthetically  and  other- 
363 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

wise,  was  the  sensible  world,  the  world  of  sense  per- 
ception. It  was  only  when  he  began  to  reflect  philo- 
sophically upon  it  that  he  discovered  something  trans- 
cending sense  perception.  But  he  did  not  know  ex- 
actly how  to  express  his  new  point  of  view  and  could 
not  always  escape  the  prevalent  conceptions  of  the 
race  in  his  attempts  to  describe  it  while  he  satisfied 
the  instincts  of  that  race.  The  controversy  between 
Heraclitus  and  the  Eleatics  was  the  first  effort  to  give 
the  opposition  between  these  two  points  of  view  defi- 
nite expression.  We  need  not  dwell  upon  it  here. 
But  it  divided,  or  originated  the  division  of  Greek 
thinkers,  into  two  fundamental  schools,  those  who  un- 
dertook to  judge  of  things  from  the  point  of  view 
of  sense  perception  and  those  who  adjudged  from  the 
point  of  view  of  reason  or  inner  principles.  One  ter- 
minated in  Epicureanism  and  the  other  in  Platonism. 
For  a  moment  Plato  combined  the  two  speculative  ten- 
dencies, that  of  the  Eleatics  and  Heraclitus,  and  in 
spite  of  some  decided  points  of  antithesis  to  the  ma- 
terialists, sympathized  with  them  in  more  than  he  is 
usually  supposed  to  have  done. 

Both  the  idealists  and  the  materialists  of  the  time 
departed  from  sense  perception  to  seek  and  find  the 
basic  cause  of  things,  even  though  they  had  to  rely 
on  some  of  the  conceptions  of  sense  to  make  their  prin- 
ciples intelligible.  The  idealists,  however,  tried  more 
earnestly  to  transcend  the  conceptions  of  sense  to  de- 
termine the  nature  of  their  causal  principles,  and  never 
made  themselves  perfectly  clear  regarding  the  question 
whether  the  world  was  to  be  interpreted  by  efficient  or 
by  material  or  constitutive  causes.  This  aside  is  in- 
364 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

volving  too  much  metaphysics,  the  main  point  is  to 
understand  that  the  real  distinction  between  the  two 
schools  was  just  in  this  different  point  of  view,  one  of 
them  being  influenced  by  the  desire  for  material 
causes,  or  the  elements  out  of  which  the  world  and  all 
sensible  reality  were  made,  and  the  other  by  the  de- 
sire for  the  efficient  cause  which  was  intrumental  in 
collocating  these  elements. 

The  first  simple  attempts  to  explain  things  were 
based  on  the  idea  that  they  were  composed  of  ele- 
ments. Of  these  there  were  four,  earth,  air,  fire,  and 
water.  Early  thinkers  thought  they  could  find  four 
primitive  substances  which  were  combined  and  modi- 
fied to  constitute  the  nature  of  the  whole  visible  world. 
This  view  gradually  developed  into  the  atomic  theory 
which  made  the  elements  infinite  in  number,  though 
of  the  same  kind.  Such  a  view  assumed  at  once  that 
there  was  a  great  difference  between  the  appearance 
of  complexity  and  multiplicity  of  things  and  the 
real  simplicity  of  them.  The  rich  complexity  of  the 
world  was  phenomenal  and  transcient,  the  simple  ele- 
ments were  permanent  and  eternal.  All  the  complex- 
ity of  nature  was  due  to  the  accidents  of  combina- 
tion, not  to  the  inherent  nature  of  the  things  that 
were  permanent.  When  then  the  elements  or  atoms 
became  all  of  one  kind  and  indefinite  in  number,  it  was 
apparent  that  there  were  very  few  qualities  which 
would  remain  permanent  in  the  scheme  of  reality. 
Everything  but  matter  was  transient  and  phenomenal, 
and  this  matter  was  not  accessible  to  the  senses.  The 
sensible  world  was  a  phantasm,  an  illusion,  an  appear- 
ance, anything  but  eternal,  and  hence  directly  op- 
365 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

posed  in  its  character  to  the  material  elements  out  of 
which  it  was  composed  or  which  in  some  way  managed 
to  throw  up  on  the  surface  of  its  evolution  the  evanes- 
cent forms  of  things  seen.  Consciousness  in  such  a 
philosophy  would  be  a  mere  function  of  compounds 
which  had  none  of  it  in  their  elements.  Conscious- 
ness and  personality  would  be  accidents  of  composi- 
tion, phenomenal  consequences  of  interaction  like  di- 
gestion, circulation,  and  if  I  may  take  a  physical  anal- 
ogy, comparable  to  eddies  and  whirlpools  in  the  con- 
fluence of  two  streams.  Hence  the  school  dominated 
by  this  philosophy  consistently  denied  the  persistence 
of  personality  after  death. 

The  idealists,  while  they  could  not  combat  the  ex- 
istence or  supposition  of  elements  constituting  the 
transcendental  basis  of  things,  were  not  satisfied  with 
the  explanation  of  their  composition  in  fortuitious 
combinations.  They  had  a  strong  leaning  for  some 
kind  of  directing  cause,  though  they  seldom  reached 
the  theistic  conception  of  that  agency.  Plato  and 
Aristotle  affirmed  it  with  Anaxagoras  and  Socrates, 
but  they  did  not  escape  the  sense  of  transiency  in 
things,  and  even  Plato's  immortality  of  the  soul  was 
nonpersonal,  unless  we  accept  occasional  temptations 
on  his  part  to  recognize  facts  which  ran  athwart  the 
main  premises  and  conclusions  of  his  philosophy. 
The  fundamental  feature  of  his  philosophy  obliged 
him  to  conceive  his  immortality  in  the  same  terms  as 
the  modern  doctrine  of  the  conservation  of  energy 
and  conceive  the  indestructibility  of  matter  as  the  per- 
manence of  motion  and  substance.  He  endeavored 
wholly  to  transcend  sense  perception  in  his  treatment 
366 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  "  ideas,"  but  the  permanent  with  him  was  a  re- 
currence of  the  same  elements  or  properties  in  suc- 
cessive types  of  reality,  not  the  persistence  of  iden- 
tity of  the  same  individual.  Similarity,  which  re- 
flected a  permanent  reality  behind  it,  was  the  basis  of 
his  idea  of  the  eternal,  not  the  persistence  of  the 
same  thing.  Hence  he  would  have  agreed,  at  least  in 
his  main  philosophy,  with  the  materialists  that  the 
personality  which  we  know  in  the  present  form  of  our 
existence  was  perishable.  It  was  only  in  moments  of 
sympathy  with  abnormal  phenomena  that  he  came  to 
consider  the  possibilities  of  survival  after  death,  but 
these  moods  never  worked  their  way  into  metaphysi- 
cal clearness  or  to  a  point  where  they  would  traverse 
his  main  philosophy.  It  was  his  ethical  idealism  that 
kept  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  great  and  sympathetic 
minds  of  subsequent  ages,  and  only  his  language  on 
immortality,  associated  with  the  general  instincts  of 
the  human  race,  availed  to  attach  Christian  philos- 
ophy to  him  and  his  metaphysics.  Besides  Platon- 
ism  developed  into  a  form  which  excited  no  special 
interest  in  that  age.  Neo-Platonism  was  either  unin- 
telligible or  so  in  conflict  with  the  prevailing  ten- 
dencies of  the  age,  as  well  as  with  the  pleasure  lov- 
ing instincts  of  the  Greeks  and  the  latter  day  Ro- 
mans, that  it  offered  no  attractive  rallying  point  for 
the  ethical  minds  of  the  time.  It  was  too  ascetic  and 
too  far  removed  in  its  conceptions  from  the  view  of 
nature  which  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  day  reflected. 
Hence  in  that  declining  period  the  materialist  easily 
won  the  credence  and  interest  of  speculative  tempera- 
ments. 

367 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

But  there  was  a  feature  of  Epicureanism  and  ma- 
terialistic ideas  that  was  the  starting  point  of  their 
undoing.  The  main  theory  of  the  school,  as  I  have 
said,  was  that  all  things  were  composed  of  atoms  which 
combined  in  a  manner  to  give  rise  to  various  phenom- 
enal manifestations  that  disappeared  with  the  disso- 
lution of  the  compounds.  When  it  came  to  their  inter- 
pretation of  consciousness  they  most  naturally  would 
make  it  an  accident  of  the  organism.  But  in  con- 
tradiction with  this  view  they  did  nothing  of  the  kind. 
It  remained  for  the  later  materialism  to  develop  itself 
into  a  more  consistent  view.  The  Epicureans  did  not 
wholly  escape  the  natural  assumption  of  Greek 
thought  that  consciousness  was  so  different  from  other 
functional  phenomena  that  it  required  a  subject  of  its 
own.  Hence  for  various  reasons  they  admitted  the 
existence  of  a  soul  concomitant  with  the  physical  or- 
ganism and  inhabiting  it,  but  denied  its  immortality. 
The  Epicureans  held  that  the  soul  was  an  organism 
of  very  fine  matter.  This  fine  matter  was  sometimes 
called  "  ether "  by  them.  It  was  not  the  ether  of 
modern  science,  but  a  more  refined  form  of  matter 
than  the  senses  could  perceive.  But  instead  of  main- 
taining that  this  etherial  soul  survived  death,  which 
they  might  well  have  done  from  their  assumption 
of  the  permanence  of  substance,  they  affirmed  its 
perishable  nature.  The  point  of  consistency  in  this 
denial  of  its  persistence  was  in  the  assumption  of  its 
complex  character.  The  Greeks  believed  the  essen- 
tially perishable  nature  of  all  compounds  and  assum- 
ing the  compound  nature  of  the  soul  they  would  log- 
ically make  it  phenomenal,  and  so  they  did.  They 
368 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

had  no  evidence  of  this  outcome  but  their  a  priori 
theory  of  the  very  nature  of  things  as  complex.  All 
that  they  had  evidence  for  was  the  transient  character 
of  things  sensible.  As  these  were  supposedly  complex 
they  made  complexity  convertible  with  transiency, 
when  their  evidence  did  not  take  them  beyond  sensi- 
ble things  for  this  phenomenal  conception.  They  had 
asserted  the  permanence  of  transcendental  elements, 
and  there  was  no  reason  but  an  a  priori  one  why  they 
should  make  transcendental  organisms  equally  perish- 
able. They  should  have  realized  that  they  required 
evidence  at  this  point.  The  law  of  inertia  supports 
the  permanence  of  everything,  and  it  is  but  a  form 
of  the  conservation  of  energy.  It  is  not  intrinsically 
in  the  nature  of  complex  things  that  they  shall  dis- 
solve any  more  than  it  is  in  the  nature  of  an  ele- 
ment or  an  atom  that  it  should  perish.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion of  fact  pure  and  simple.  All  that  the  Epicurean 
had  definite  evidence  for  was  the  empirical  fact  that 
complex  things  of  sense  perished,  not  that  they  neces- 
sarily perished.  And  with  this  evidence  went  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  cause  for  this  dissolution  or  tran- 
sient appearance.  But  for  the  action  of  that  cause 
even  compound  things  would  not  perish.  Hence  the 
materialist  should  have  observed  that,  if  he  were  go- 
ing to  assert  the  phenomenal  nature  of  the  soul,  it  was 
his  duty  to  supply  the  same  kind  of  evidence  for  this 
that  he  had  for  that  of  the  body.  But  he  resorted 
to  a  priori  assumptions  instead  of  scientific  evidence. 
He  distinguished  between  the  sensible  and  the  super- 
sensible world  by  making  one  transient  and  the  other 
permanent,  and  then  forgot  the  distinction  on  winch 
369 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

he  based  this  view  when  he  came  to  estimate  the  na- 
ture of  complex  organisms.  It  was  the  supersensible 
that  was  eternal,  and  as  he  had  made  the  soul  super- 
sensible he  should  have  seen  that  its  permanence  went 
with  this,  and  would  have  done  so  but  for  the  a  priori 
assumption  about  the  complex.  It  may  be  a  fact  that 
they  are  all  perishable,  but  it  is  not  a  necessity.  It  is 
a  matter  of  evidence,  not  of  assumption. 

Besides,  it  was  a  purely  a  priori  assumption  that 
the  soul  was  an  organism,  a  complex  compound  of 
etherial  elements.  It  might  as  well  have  been  a 
monad,  so  far  as  the  Epicureans  knew.  They  had  no 
evidence  that  it  was  a  complex  organism.  Hence  if  it 
were  a  monad,  its  imperishable  nature  was  to  be  placed 
on  the  same  basis  as  that  of  the  atoms.  The  inde- 
structibility of  the  atoms  was  an  assumption  without 
any  special  proof,  a  view  which  all  will  admit  in  this 
day  since  the  discussion  of  the  atomic  theory  and  the 
new  doctrine  of  ions  and  electrons.  But  it  was  not 
necessary  for  the  believer  in  immortality  to  challenge 
the  eternity  of  the  atoms  or  the  assumption  which 
affirmed  it,  as  he  could  simply  demand  evidence  for 
the  complexity  of  the  soul  and  in  lieu  of  finding  it  as- 
sume with  equal  propriety  its  simplicity  and  affirm 
its  persistence  on  the  same  basis  as  that  of  the  ele- 
ments. 

On  the  philosophic  side,  Christianity  would  have 
had  the  alternatives  of  holding  that  the  soul  was  sim- 
ple and  indestructible  or  that  its  mere  complexity  did 
not  insure  its  destruction.  Tertullian  seized  upon  its 
simplicity  and  its  material  nature  as  an  ad  hominem 
argument  which  the  materialist  could  not  resist.  But 
370 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

he  lacked  evidence  for  the  simplicity  of  the  soul  and 
other  philosophic  views  had  become  so  infected  with 
the  opposition  between  matter  and  spirit  that  they 
could  not  accept  the  material  nature  of  the  soul,  even 
if  it  afforded  a  vantage  ground  in  the  argument. 
But  we  anticipate  the  real  attack  of  Christianity  on 
materialism  by  referring  to  Tertullian,  as  he  came 
long  after  that  religion  had  gained  its  position.  The 
real  attack  on  materialism  was  not  philosophical,  but 
an  appeal  to  a  fact,  or  an  alleged  fact.  This  was 
the  story  of  the  resurrection. 

Materialism  had  saturated  thought  with  the  belief 
that  even  if  the  soul  existed  it  did  not  survive  the 
grave.  Philosophy  had  shown  itself  incapable  of 
solving  the  riddle,  and  left  to  the  gatherer  of  evidence 
the  duty  or  the  opportunity  to  assert  what  material- 
ism denied.  It  was  no  philosophic  time  when  the  re- 
vival of  the  belief  in  immortality  arose.  There  was 
no  disposition  to  debate  the  issue  on  assumptions  which 
could  well  demand  evidence  for  their  making  on  both 
sides  of  the  the  controversy.  Hence  instead  of  rely- 
ing on  the  argument  that  the  doctrine  of  inertia  fav- 
ored the  continuity  of  the  soul,  the  new  movement  fell 
back  on  an  alleged  fact  to  support  its  contention 
against  materialism.  It  did  not  challenge  the  mate- 
rialist for  evidence  that  complex  organisms  perish, 
but  undertook  directly  the  support  of  its  own  con- 
tention that  the  soul  did  rise  from  the  grave. 

Ancient  thought  would  naturally  enough  suppose 

that  the  fine  material  organism,  which  existed  as  the 

soul  in  association  with  the  body  would  fare  the  same 

destiny.     The  very  assumption  that  it  was  matter,  and 

371 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

complex  matter  at  that,  would  incline  it  in  that  direc- 
tion, while  the  various  traditions  of  popular  religion 
and  its  theory  of  Hades  left  the  soul  to  follow  the 
course  of  the  body.  But  as  Greek  thought  had  al- 
ways taken  the  view  of  gravity  which  held  that  light 
substances  rose  and  heavy  ones  fell,  it  was  easy  to  con- 
struct a  theory  of  a  resurrection  before  any  alleged 
facts  occurred  to  justify  its  assertion,  and  in  fact 
such  a  theory  existed  before  it  was  alleged  of  Christ. 
The  controversy  between  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees 
is  absolute  proof  of  this.  It  may  be  doubtful  if  the 
mere  philosophic  theory  had  suggested  any  such  view, 
but  when  suggested,  philosophy  might  well  harbor  it 
as  consistent  with  its  general  conceptions.  It  is  far 
more  probable  that  the  belief  in  apparitions  had  sug- 
gested the  mode  of  attack  on  materialism,  as  even  the 
Epicureans  admitted  the  existence  of  such  phenomena, 
and  Epicureans  admitted  the  existence  of  the  gods 
on  the  evidence  of  dreams.  It  is  hardly  possible  that 
the  dispute  between  the  two  dominant  sects  of  Pales- 
tine grew  out  of  a  philosophic  controversy  based  on  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  Greek  thought.  It  is 
more  probable  that  the  intellectual  atmosphere  was 
saturated  with  its  general  ideas  and  certain  actual  ex- 
periences which  sought  cover  in  sectarian  theories,  and 
the  belief  in  apparitions  in  all  ages  would  very  natur- 
ally suggest  that  conception  of  things  which  the  story 
of  the  resurrection  illustrates,  and  especially  in  the 
crisis  of  ancient  materialism,  surrounded  as  it  was  by 
the  assumptions  which  I  have  explained.  Hence  we 
may  suppose  that  Christianity  arose  to  the  challenge 
for  evidence  of  survival  which  the  belief  in  apparitions 
872 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

easily  suggested.  It  was  not  a  philosophy,  but  an 
appeal  to  alleged  facts,  which,  accepting  their  appar- 
ent character,  directly  disproved  the  a  priori  assertion 
of  the  Epicurean. 

The  mind  of  the  time  was  prepared  for  the  recog- 
nition of  phenomena  which  would  suggest  just  what 
the  anti-materialist  wanted  in  his  support.  We  have 
only  to  suppose  that  an  apparition  of  Christ  appeared 
to  his  disciples  after  his  death  and  we  should  have  all 
the  conditions  which  would  supply  a  reply  to  the 
claims  of  materialism.  The  appearance  of  such  a  per- 
sonality would  have  an  unusual  influence,  more  than 
any  average  person,  and  it  would  suggest  a  triumph- 
ant answer  to  scepticism,  as  we  know  the  story  ac- 
tually took  that  character.  It  would  constitute  an  ex- 
ception to  the  assertions  that  survival  was  impossible. 
All  that  the  advocate  would  have  to  say  was  that  it 
was  not  a  question  of  what  was  possible  or  impossible, 
but  of  what  the  facts  were,  attested  as  they  apparently 
were  in  this  case  by  collective  testimony.  Materialism 
asserted  that  a  resurrection,  the  survival  of  the  ethe- 
rial  organism,  the  Pauline  spiritual  body,  or  the  as- 
tral of  the  theosophist,  was  impossible.  The  Chris- 
tian believer  simply  pointed  to  a  case  of  it  in  fact 
and  asked  the  Epicurean  to  explain  it  on  any  other 
than  the  most  natural  hypothesis.  The  repetition  of 
such  phenomena  would  add  strength  to  the  influence 
of  the  first  one  and  awakened  a  new  interest  which 
materialism  would  not  be  able  to  withstand. 

I  am  not  claiming  that  there  was  an  actual  appari- 
tion of  Christ  at  the  time.  I  am  only  saying  that, 
in  the  sceptical  situation  about  the  resurrection  of 
373 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  physical  body,  we  can  most  easily  explain  the  con- 
sensus of  testimony  in  the  matter  by  supposing  that 
an  apparition  occurred,  whatever  source  we  gave  to 
the  apparition.  We  may  treat  it  as  an  hallucination, 
if  we  prefer,  as  Renan  actually  did,  and  as  physiol- 
ogists and  psychiatrists  now  do,  where  they  do  not 
consider  it  a  myth.  I  am  not  concerned  at  present  in 
the  question  whether  the  apparition  was  real  or  hallu- 
cinatory. The  experience  of  the  human  race  makes 
the  phenomenon,  whatever  its  cause,  a  frequent  and 
familiar  one,  and  we  need  not  enter  into  criticism  of 
the  story  when  estimating  its  effect  on  belief,  philo- 
sophical and  otherwise.  It  is  sufficient  to  believe  a 
thing  to  make  it  a  potent  factor  in  intellectual  con- 
structions, and  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  the 
early  Christians  believed  in  the  occurrence  of  some 
appearance,  subjective  and  hallucinatory  or  real,  at 
the  time  of  the  crucifixion,  and  that  belief  was  in  an 
alleged  fact  which,  if  real,  clearly  contradicted  the 
conceptions  of  the  materialist. 

That  the  phenomena  which  have  characterized  the 
field  of  psychic  research  are  not  new  and  that  they 
were  associated  with  the  allegations  of  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  are  apparent  in  other  statements  of  the 
New  Testament.  There  is  the  story  of  the  apparition 
of  Moses  and  Elias  on  the  mount.  We  may  not 
credit  such  a  story  as  a  fact.  But  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence. The  record  of  it  shows  that  people  believed  in 
such*  things,  at  least  to  some  extent.  It  may  have 
been,  like  many  other  similar  incidents,  a  mere  myth, 
but  its  assertion  indicates  what  the  mind  was  accredit- 
ing in  the  field  of  the  apparently  superphysical. 
374 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Then  again  we  have  the  instance  of  the  disciples  aware 
of  Christ's  presence  with  them  on  the  way  to  Em- 
maus.  He  was  not  distinctly  recognized  at  first,  but 
seemed  like  one  of  those  instances  with  which  psychic 
researchers  are  now  so  familiar,  namely,  the  phenom- 
ena in  which  some  people  seem  to  be  conscious  of  an 
independent  presence,  though  nothing  sensible  is  rec- 
ognized. These  too  may  be  hallucinations,  but  they 
are  experiences,  and  it  would  be  natural  for  unscien- 
tific times  to  accept  them  at  their  face  value  and  to 
base  a  philosophy  or  a  religion  upon  them. 

St.  Paul's  vision  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  the 
"  speaking  with  tongues  "  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
the  command  to  "  try  the  spirits  and  see  whether  they 
were  of  God  or  not,"  were  all  phenomena  with  which 
we  are  perfectly  familiar  to-day,  whether  of  the  na- 
ture of  hallucinations  or  indicative  of  transcendental 
realities.  It  would  only  be  natural  to  expect  an  ap- 
parition of  Christ  on  any  theory  of  the  facts,  so  far 
as  any  such  event  can  be  expected  at  all,  and  certainly 
its  occurrence  to  people  of  that  time  would  offer  the 
best  of  opportunities  to  challenge  materialism.  The 
phenomenon  would,  if  real,  be  a  clear  disproof  of  the 
materialist  claim  that  the  etherial  organism  perished 
with  the  body.  That  idea  once  accepted  would  af- 
ford a  rallying  point  for  all  the  forces  which  mate- 
rialism had  kept  in  submission.  Such  it  was  at  that 
time  for  any  one  who  knows  history.  The  despair 
of  those  who  had  felt  the  weight  of  doubt  was  at  once 
turned  into  joy  and  a  new  enthusiasm  given  to  the 
ethical  and  religious  consciousness. 

The  whole  movement  of  Neo-Platonism  was  deeply 
375 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

associated  with  these  phenomena.  The  orthodox  his- 
torian of  philosophy  knows  well  the  stories  of  the 
trances  of  Plotinus,  and  all  are  familiar  with  the 
magic  and  theurgy  connected  with  that  philosophy, 
and  it  seems  to  have  escaped  the  repute  attaching  to 
similar  associations  in  modern  times.  We  have  long 
since  separated  philosophic  pursuits  from  dabbling 
in  magic  and  prestidigitation,  and  these  may  not  have 
infected  Neo-Platonism  in  its  early  stages.  But 
whether  they  did  or  not,  the  work  of  Plotinus  and 
his  followers  is  evidence  of  an  attempt  to  solve  the 
riddle  of  the  sphinx  by  other  than  introspective  meth- 
ods in  spite  of  an  exaggerated  use  of  them.  Simon 
Magus,  of  the  New  Testament,  is  probably  a  type 
of  the  frauds  which  arose  during  the  decline  of  the 
oracles.  Bishop  Hippolytos,  in  his  Refutatio  Herce- 
slum,  shows  what  the  situation  was  in  some  minds, 
whether  he  was  correct  in  his  judgment  or  not.  He 
seems  to  have  attacked  the  oracles  as  unqualifiedly 
fraudulent.  Plutarch,  who  was  a  young  man  in  66 
A.  D.,  wrote  on  the  cessation  of  the  oracles  in  his  time 
in  a  spirit  which  indicates  familiarity  with  genuine 
phenomena  of  an  interesting  type,  the  inexplicable  to 
him  and  others.  All  these  show  what  the  materialistic 
spirit  has  challenged  and  produced  by  way  of  refuta- 
tion, and  this  regardless  of  the  merits  of  the  case. 
Hence  the  stories  in  the  New  Testament  but  reflect 
the  conceptions  of  the  time,  namely,  phenomena  less 
exceptional  than  popular  belief  in  miracles  would  im- 
ply- 

With  this  intellectual  atmosphere  and  the  immemo- 
376 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

rial  knowledge  of  apparitions,  it  would  be  natural  at 
any  appearance  of  such  a  phenomenon  in  the  person 
of  a  teacher  like  Jesus,  that  the  event  would  be  seized 
upon  as  a  triumphant  refutation  of  materialism. 
Whether  he  did  so  appear  or  not  is  another  question. 
The  consensus  of  testimony  would  be  on  that  side,  even 
though  we  chose  to  explain  the  phenomenon  as  an  hal- 
lucination. Its  influence  on  men  would  not  depend, 
at  that  time,  upon  its  reality  in  fact,  but  upon  the 
belief  in  that  reality,  and  there  was  no  antecedent 
presumption  against  such  things,  as  three  hundred 
years  of  physical  science  has  predisposed  us.  It  mat- 
ters not  what  theory  we  adopt  of  the  event  character- 
ized as  the  resurrection,  its  influence  as  a  belief  in  a 
fact  was  sufficient  to  revolutionize  philosophic  thought. 
It  could  do  this  all  the  more  effectively  from  the  fact 
that  men's  conception  of  matter  and  spirit  were  not 
then  as  clearly  distinguished  as  to-day.  The  monis- 
tic temper  of  philosophic  thought  allowed  the  distinc- 
tion between  grosser  matter  and  spirit  to  be  lightly 
drawn,  the  latter  being  only  a  finer  type  of  the  for- 
mer. The  bodily  resurrection  might  be  taken  to  refer 
to  the  "  spiritual  "  body,  which  was  matter  of  one 
kind,  and  when  the  antithesis  between  matter  and 
spirit  became  more  clearly  defined  the  very  phrase 
"  bodily "  resurrection  would  naturally  imply  the 
grosser  body.  This  development  might  easily  take 
place  among  the  common  people  who  had  no  philoso- 
phic ideas  of  a  monistic  sort  and  who  more  naturally 
distinguished  between  "  matter  "  and  "  spirit,"  while 
they  remained  by  the  sensory  interpretation  of  the 
377 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE   RMURRECTION 

"  physical  body  "  associated  with  the  resurrection. 
As  time  passed  this  view  would  crystallize  into  per- 
fectly definite  form,  as  it  did. 

But  the  real  phenomena,  whatever  their  explana- 
tion, seem  to  have  persisted,  though  the  weight  of 
scientific  authority  for  many  centuries  kept  their  rel- 
evance unnoticed  or  suppressed  their  importance  in  the 
interest  of  a  materialistic  philosophy.  The  assets 
of  history  were  not  sufficient  to  counteract  this  ten- 
dency, and  as  science  triumphed  over  ancient  meth- 
ods, it  left  no  appeal  to  facts  that  seemed  impressive 
in  such  a  problem.  Science  is  an  interrogation  of  the 
present  for  the  facts  that  enable  us  to  read  the  past 
and  the  future.  If  I  may  so  express  it,  science  is 
an  examination  of  a  cross  section  of  evolution  and 
expects  to  find  there  the  evidence  of  what  has  occurred 
and  of  what  will  occur,  the  indicia  of  history  and 
hope.  As  long  as  it  discredited  psychic  phenomena 
it  had  no  alternative  to  its  materialistic  interpretation. 
It  was  natural  and  legitimate  as  method  that  it 
should  do  so,  and  hence  the  stories  of  apparitions  re- 
ceived no  attention  but  to  be  discarded  as  coincidences 
and  hallucinations.  Whether  they  can  always  be  so 
considered  is  for  each  individual  to  determine  on  the 
evidence. 

But  one  thing  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
has  proved  beyond  cavil  is  the  fact  that  apparitions 
do  occur.  We  need  not  care  what  explanation  offers 
itself.  They  are  facts  of  human  experience,  whether 
products  of  a  disordered  brain  or  of  external  agencies 
of  a  human  type  surviving  death.  In  the  present 
stage  of  inquiry  it  is  not  necessary  to  insist  which. 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

They  are  the  continuation  of  ancient  experience  which 
even  Tylor  in  his  Primitive  Culture  admits  betokens 
important  facts  in  the  lives  of  savages.  Whether 
they  are  more  than  hallucinations  will  depend  wholly 
upon  their  relation  to  the  events  they  seem  to  attest 
and  the  subject's  ignorance  of  those  events.  When 
an  apparition  of  a  given  person  is  seen  —  whether 
living  or  dead  makes  no  difference  to  our  problem 
at  present  —  by  some  one  and  the  fact  coincides  with 
an  important  event  at  a  distance  and  not  known  to 
the  percipient,  and  when  they  occur  in  sufficient  num- 
bers and  variety  to  eliminate  chance  from  their  in- 
terpretation, the  phenomena  offer  science  an  important 
datum  for  speculation.  It  is  not  the  mere  fact  of  an 
identified  apparition  that  has  value,  as  every  man 
does  know  or  ought  to  know,  but  the  relation  of  it 
to  the  events  indicated  and  coinciding  with  it  as  well 
as  the  really  or  apparently  supernormal  information 
conveyed  by  it,  that  invites  attention,  and  any  effort 
to  press  hallucination,  which  excludes  external  stimuli 
from  the  case,  into  service  to  discredit  the  phenome- 
non as  insignificant,  is  an  evasion  of  the  issue.  The 
man  who  discards  the  facts  as  hallucinations  does  well 
when  he  is  estimating  a  single  case  against  all  real  or 
supposed  human  experience  on  the  negative  side. 
But  the  multiplication  of  the  phenomena  puts  them 
on  the  same  footing  with  meteors  and  comets,  and  all 
other  sporadic  or  residual  facts.  Their  regular  oc- 
currence after  a  definite  type  suggests  some  other  law 
than  hallucination,  extensive  as  that  is.  The  collec- 
tion of  a  census  of  such  events  would  satisfy  science 
of  the  need  of  investigation  at  least,  and  that  indefi- 
379 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

nitely.     Ridicule  after  that  would  only  indicate  the 
cries  of  a  dying  philosophy. 

Very  early  in  its  history  the  English  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  set  about  this  very  task.  It 
planned  the  collection  of  a  "  Census  of  Hallucina- 
tions," as  they  were  called,  though  distinguishing  be- 
tween subjective  and  veridical  hallucinations.  The 
former  type  meant  that  they  were  products  of  ab- 
normal and  intra-organic  stimuli,  that  is,  various  dis- 
turbances within  the  organism.  The  latter  meant 
that  certain  types  of  experience  representing  an  ap- 
parition, whatever  its  form,  real  or  symbolic,  were 
related,  perhaps  causally  to  certain  events  independent 
of  the  organism  in  which  the  hallucination  or  appari- 
tion occurred.  This  last  type  had  to  be  proved,  but 
the  coincidnce  between  certain  alleged  apparitions 
and  the  events  which  they  seemed  to  indicate  sug- 
gested such  a  definition  upon  which  to  work  for  evi- 
dence. All  apparitions  which  occurred  in  connection 
with  knowledge  of  the  events  to  which  they  were  re- 
lated had  to  be  regarded  as  subjective,  that  is,  mere 
productions  of  the  brain.  Abnormal  psychology  had 
been  familiar  enough  with  such  phenomena  to  dis- 
credit any  claims  for  the  reality  of  such  things  unless 
they  could  present  the  credentials  of  supernormal  phe- 
nomena. The  criterion  set  up  for  the  determination 
of  this  supernormal  nature  was  that  the  apparition 
should  satisfy  several  evidential  demands.  ( 1 )  They 
must  coincide  with  some  event  at  a  distance,  such  as 
a  death  or  critical  illness.  (2)  The  events  which  they 
seemed  to  indicate  must  not  be  known  to  the  percip- 
ient, so  that  the  information  really  or  apparently  con- 
380 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

veyed  should  at  least  seem  to  be  supernormal.  (3) 
Some  record  of  the  experience  should  be  made  before 
any  knowledge  of  the  event  coinciding  had  been  ob- 
tained. This  record  may  be  either  a  note  made  at  the 
time  or  a  statement  of  the  facts  made  to  some  friend 
previous  to  other  information.  (4)  Anxiety  and  ex- 
pectation regarding  the  person  concerned  must  be  ab- 
sent. In  the  absence  of  these  standards  of  evidence, 
such  others  as  would  guarantee  the  phenomena  against 
the  objections  of  ordinary  hallucination  had  to  be 
presented  before  any  instance  could  be  received  as  sug- 
gesting an  external  source  for  its  occurrence. 

The  object  of  this  inquiry  was  to  test  the  sceptic's 
hypothesis  of  chance  coincidence  in  the  occurrence  of 
apparitions  related  to  the  events  which  they  seemed  to 
identity.  Instances  were  collected  over  a  definite  ter- 
ritory representing  apparitions  of  dying  and  deceased 
persons.  The  time  limit  was  arbitrarily  fixed  at 
twelve  hours  after  the  moment  supposed  to  mark 
physiological  death.  Within  the  territory  assigned 
they  obtained  350  cases  which  seemed  worthy  of  con- 
sideration. But  270  of  these  were  rejected  from  a 
scientific  account  because  they  failed  to  satisfy  the 
rigid  criteria  which  had  been  considered  necessary  to 
guarantee  their  integrity  against  the  hypothesis  of 
subjective  hallucination.  Then  28  more  were  elim- 
inated for  various  other  reasons.  This  left  52  which 
satisfied  the  most  severe  tests  of  scientific  method  as  to 
the  probabilities  of  their  truth.  By  mathematical 
methods  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  explain  here, 
these  52  cases  were  compared  with  the  law  of  chance 
and  the  conclusion  adopted  that  they  were  not  due  to 
381 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

chance  coincidence.  This  conclusion  was  emphasized 
by  italics  and  it  was  stated  that  the  committee  re- 
garded it  as  a  proved  fact. 

It  is  clear  that,  if  52  cases  were  beyond  chance  pro- 
duction, 350  cases  were  much  more  this.  No  estimate 
was  made  for  this  latter  number,  and  many  more  have 
been  collected  since.  Dr.  Hodgson  told  me  before  his 
death  that  he  thought  he  had  a  thousand  instances  on 
record  in  his  files,  and  though  all  of  them  may  not 
have  been  equally  evidential  or  assured  by  severe 
standards,  the  fact  that  veridical  apparitions  have 
been  established  would  make  it  probable  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  coincidental  phenomena  of  the 
kind  had  the  same  character. 

The  scientific  acceptability  of  such  facts  to-day, 
when  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  scepticism,  would 
make  it  entirely  credible  that  Christ  may  have  ap- 
peared in  a  similar  way  to  his  disciples,  and  explain  a 
perfectly  natural  source  for  the  story  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, a  source  too  that  would  carry  with  it  more  or  less 
guarantee  for  the  conclusion  which  the  early  Chris- 
tians had  based  upon  the  one  incident.  If  the  exam- 
ination of  the  present  finds  the  phenomena  credible  as 
real  and  significant,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  accepting 
the  credibility  of  it  in  the  past,  which  we  know  to  be 
full  of  assertions  of  it.  Of  course,  each  instance  of 
alleged  appearance  must  be  submitted  to  the  evidential 
test  and  credited  or  rejected  accordingly.  But  when 
the  fact  of  apparitions  has  been  once  established  scien- 
tifically the  ancient  allegations  of  them  are  less  in- 
credible than  they  would  otherwise  be.  This  is  a  tru- 
ism. But  it  is  mentioned  in  order  to  connect  the  ac- 
382 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ceptability  of  the  present  with  the  possibility  of  the 
past  and  to  make  the  past  a  part  of  the  present  in 
the  interpretation  of  its  nature  and  tendencies.  This 
does  not  prove  the  truth  of  the  story  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  but  it  does  remove  its  supposed  con- 
tradiction with  the  law  of  nature,  except  in  so  far  as 
history  and  tradition  have  interpreted  it  as  a  physi- 
cal resurrection.  This  must  remain  incredible  as  long 
as  such  phenomena  are  not  now  frequent  and  so  long 
as  human  experience  does  not  reproduce  it  as  a  law 
of  nature.  But  the  existence  of  veridical  apparitions 
would  substantiate  all  that  is  useful  in  the  story  of 
the  resurrection  and  make  human  experience  in  all 
ages  akin.  The  same  opposition  to  the  materialistic 
view  of  things  comes  from  these  experiences  as  in  an- 
tiquity. Thinkers  may  entertain  what  view  they 
please  of  them.  They  certainly  offer  to  many  minds 
an  escape  from  the  dogmatism  of  doubt.  It  may 
take  long  to  assure  ourselves  generally  of  the  truth 
involved,  but  whether  it  does  or  not,  it  is  certain  that 
we  find  a  new  point  of  view  for  interpreting  the  New 
Testament.  That  this  is  coming  is  apparent  in  the 
asserted  views  of  leading  men  like  Newman  Smyth  and 
others.  It  will  probably  not  be  through  public  recog- 
nition of  psychic  research,  but  by  covert  admission  of 
its  conclusions  and  the  method  of  reinterpreting  the 
record  of  antiquity  under  the  sgis  of  authority.  But 
it  matters  not  to  science  how  men  come  to  its  accep- 
tance, so  that  they  do  come,  and  if  we  make  the  res- 
urrection a  law  of  nature,  sporadic  it  is  true,  we  have 
done  all  that  is  necessary  to  protect  the  ethical  and  re- 
ligious view  of  life. 


PSYCHICAL,    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

It  is  important,  however,  to  remind  the  reader  that 
this  interpretation  and  defence  of  the  story  of  the 
resurrection  is  not  intended  as  a  protection  to  any  of 
the  dogmas  and  authority  which  have  so  long  kept 
men  in  bondage.  It  is  not  so  important  to  say  that 
the  past  was  right  in  its  conceptions  as  it  is  to  es- 
tablish its  affinity  with  the  present.  Hence  I  am  not 
vindicating  a  single  one  of  the  dogmas  associated  with 
a  bigoted  history.  It  is  not  the  idea  of  a  resurrec- 
tion, whether  physical  or  otherwise,  that  is  important. 
There  is  nothing  gained  by  establishing  a  truth  that 
merely  enables  a  certain  uncritical  and  intolerant 
class  of  people  to  say :  "  I  told  you  so."  It  might 
be  better  to  have  a  bitter  scepticism  in  its  place  for 
a  while.  But  as  a  reconciliation  between  science  and 
religion,  it  is  important  to  discover  the  significance  of 
such  phenomena  for  the  beliefs  of  the  one  and  the 
methods  of  the  other.  There  is  no  use  to  revive  old 
controversies  or  to  vindicate  old  and  false  beliefs  about 
the  resurrection.  No  value  of  any  sort  attaches  to  a 
belief  in  it,  except  such  as  would  be  implied  in  the  re- 
ality of  similar  phenomena  now  as  controverting  cer- 
tain philosophic  theories.  We  may  believe  in  a  res- 
urrection as  much  as  we  please  to  satisfy  some  dogma 
or  prejudice  and  be  no  wiser  for  the  fact.  But  if 
there  was  any  concealed  truth  in  the  real  facts  which 
tradition  has  covered  up  in  the  stories  of  the  New 
Testament,  it  will  be  important  as  a  scientific  matter 
to  have  uncovered  it,  if  only  for  the  interpretation  of 
history  which  it  may  afford.  But  there  is  nothing 
in  the  vindication  of  any  form  of  the  incident  except 
the  light  which  it  may  shed  on  the  question  of  per- 
384 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

sonality  and  its  survival  of  death.  Whatever  im- 
portance men  may  attach  to  a  belief  in  a  future  life 
attaches  to  the  phenomena  which  I  have  discussed  here, 
whether  they  are  of  present  or  past  occurrence,  and 
that  is  all  that  I  have  had  in  mind  when  discussing  the 
historical  view  of  the  resurrection  and  in  the  attempted 
reconciliation  of  science  and  religion  through  this 
mode  of  approach. 

There  is  nothing  clearer  to  intelligent  observers  than 
the  fact  that  the  older  orthodox  conceptions  are  fast 
dissolving  and  are  bound  to  be  supplanted  by  some 
others  in  the  near  future.  Unless  a  point  of  view 
for  the  ethical  consciousness  can  be  obtained  we  shall 
have  nothing  in  the  common  mind  to  which  to  anchor 
except  the  instincts  which  are  themselves  perfectly 
modifiable  and  submissive  to  environment.  If  this 
be  agnostic  and  irreligious,  the  morality  which  has 
been  the  product  of  association  with  Christian  ideas 
of  life  will  go  the  way  of  all  social  customs  which 
have  no  vindication  in  the  nature  of  things.  What 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  did  for  the  past  was  that 
it  protected  certain  views  of  the  present  life  and  their 
importance,  no  matter  whether  these  views  should  have 
had  their  own  intrinsic  value  apart  from  artificial  de- 
fence. When  this  is  the  fact,  we  know  perfectly  well 
that  the  system  will  perish  with  the  doctrine  and  con- 
ceptions which  gave  it  vitality  and  cohesion.  That 
at  least  is  the  value  which  attaches  to  the  proof  of  a 
future  life  for  man.  Greco-Roman  history  shows 
this.  As  soon  as  ancient  religions  lost  their  vitality 
as  aids  to  political  life  the  morality  which  they  fos- 
tered disintegrated,  and  they  lost  their  vitality  because 
385 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

they  could  not  sustain  their  truth  under  the  light  of 
inquiry.  Philosophy  dissolved  their  grounds  and 
left  them  no  heritage  of  truth  which  would  enable 
them  to  survive  the  corrosive  influence  of  scepticism. 
It  will  be  the  same  with  Christianity  unless  it  can  ad- 
just itself  to  the  scientific  point  of  view  and  unless 
science  can  supply  data  for  some  form  of  idealism. 

In  defending  the  great  importance  attaching  to  the 
belief  in  a  future  life  I  am  going  first  to  make  a  con- 
cession to  certain  types  of  mind.  There  are  many 
who  think  that  the  belief  has  been  actually  harmful  to 
progress.  There  are  many  others  who  think  it  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  mankind  and  wholly  unnecessary  to 
ethics  or  religion.  Some  maintain  that  ethical  ideals 
are  sufficiently  evident  of  themselves  and  that  no  harm 
can  come  to  them  by  complete  ignorance  or  even  by 
denial  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave.  There  is  a  still 
larger  class  that  is  indifferent  intellectually  and  mor- 
ally to  the  whole  question  and  the  implications  said  to 
be  based  upon  it.  They  are  quite  content  with  the 
present  existence  and  the  risks  and  fortunes  which  ac- 
company it.  It  seems  that  only  a  few  are  interested 
in  the  protection  of  the  belief  for  impersonal  reasons, 
the  majority  being  emotionally  and  perhaps  often 
selfishly  concerned  in  it. 

I  must,  however,  remind  the  sceptic  who  think  ethics 
safe  without  such  belief  and  that  moral  instincts  can 
be  trusted  to  take  care  of  themselves,  that  he  neglects 
to  reckon  with  the  perfectly  established  fact  that  mo- 
rality is  no  more  stable  than  the  intellectual  beliefs 
upon  which  it  is  founded.  History  has  demonstrated 
this  beyond  a  doubt.  The  only  question  to  be  de- 
386 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

termined  is  whether  the  immortality  of  the  soul  has 
ever  influenced  any  ethical  system.  Those  who  think 
ethics  safe  without  it  forget  that  the  very  ideals  which 
they  accept  are  the  product  of  the  system  which  ob- 
tained its  strength  from  this  very  belief.  It  is  clear 
to  all  intelligent  people  that  the  ancient  morality  dis- 
appeared with  the  prevalence  of  materialism.  Its 
dissolution  began  with  the  disintegrating  influence  of 
the  Sophists  and  ended  in  the  debaucheries  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  It  was  a  matter  of  slow  growth,  and 
would  have  been  more  rapid  but  for  the  preservation 
among  common  people  of  beliefs  long  after  the  gov- 
erning classes  gave  them  up.  This  is  apparent  in 
the  epitaphs  of  ancient  tombs.  And  it  was  slow  then 
because  the  solidarity  of  communities  was  not  such  as 
it  is  now.  Religious  tolerance  was  more  necessary 
then  to  protect  the  state  than  now,  and  as  the  politi- 
cal classes  were  the  materialists  their  protection  lay 
in  tolerating  religion  while  they  collected  the  revenues. 
But  as  soon  as  Paganism  lost  its  hold  on  the  allegiance 
of  the  common  people  the  morality  which  it  fostered 
declined  rapidly  enough.  Its  place  was  taken  by  the 
reconstructive  ideas  of  Christianity.  We  may  say 
and  think  what  we  please  about  these  ideas,  they 
moulded  a  new  civilization.  There  were  many  things 
in  the  system  besides  the  belief  in  a  future  life  which 
gave  it  power,  but  this  belief  was  the  primary  factor 
which  protected  the  influence  of  what  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  it.  For  instance  the  doctrine  of  limited 
probation  and  of  eternal  punishment.  Neither  of 
these  could  have  maintained  itself  for  a  moment  with- 
out the  belief  in  a  future  life.  But  they  were  potent 
387 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

factors  in  determining  the  power  of  the  priesthood 
over  the  masses.  The  morality  which  we  regard  as 
sustaining  the  present  family  and  political  life  came 
from  this  growth  and  will  dissolve  with  the  beliefs  that 
determined  it.  This  morality  is  slower  to  perish  than 
the  intellectual  beliefs  affecting  it,  because  men  ad- 
just themselves  to  environment  in  their  actions  when 
they  do  not  in  their  convictions.  But  in  time  the  en- 
vironment is  changed  and  with  it  the  protective  agency 
for  its  old  morality. 

It  is  true  enough  that  many  persons  do  not  need 
the  belief  for  its  influence  on  certain  specific  maxims 
of  conduct,  because  a  variety  of  forces  combine  to 
preserve  the  integrity  of  some  principles.  But  in  the 
long  run  the  most  powerful  agents  in  securing  the 
cohesiveness  of  the  best  principles  of  conduct  are  those 
which  give  the  greatest  tenacity  to  maxims  affected 
by  time.  Environment,  example,  tradition,  personal 
affection,  heredity,  political  and  social  restraints,  and 
a  thousand  interests  will  avail  to  preserve  for  a  while 
certain  habits  of  thought  and  action  without  a  belief 
in  a  future  life.  But  they  do  not  suffice  to  create  an 
ethical  system  which  will  make  the  individual  sacrifice 
the  present  to  the  future,  which  is  always  necessary 
for  the  highest  ideals,  at  least  in  some  measure  of 
their  realization.  The  sceptic  who  speaks  so  confi- 
dently of  our  present  moral  agencies  forgets  their 
parentage  and  that  they  are  living  on  the  momentum 
of  eighteen  centuries  of  the  tremendous  religious  and 
political  power  which  did  so  much  to  displace  Pagan- 
ism. That  momentum  will  spend  itself  unless  rein- 
forced from  time  to  time  with  the  primary  motives 
388 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

which  gave  it  impulse.  Our  ethics  to-day  are  the  off- 
spring of  ideals  which  got  their  whole  impetus  and 
animation  from  the  enthusiasm  of  immortality.  The 
New  Testament  records  the  exultant  triumph  of  the 
poor  in  the  consciousness  of  immortality  as  against 
the  teaching  of  materialism.  They  felt  both  political 
and  moral  oppression,  but  the  hope  of  a  future  life 
dispelled  the  burdens  of  political  tyranny  and  enlisted 
nature  on  their  side  when  this  life  came  to  an  end. 
They  may  have  been  and  may  be  entitled  to  better 
treatment  in  the  present,  but  the  inequalities  of  nature 
and  society  are  less  when  nature  shows  itself  in  con- 
tinued opportunities  for  life  and  work,  as  it  does  in 
the  doctrine  of  a  future  existence  for  the  soul.  It 
was  hardly  an  accident  that  associated  human  broth- 
erhood with  the  belief.  Unfortunately  the  social  sys- 
tem of  the  early  period  did  not  favor  either  voluntary 
or  compulsory  adjustment  to  this  ideal,  and  it  van- 
ished, to  be  practically  forgotten  by  the  church  alto- 
gether, though  its  teaching  preserved  the  maxims 
which  made  it  imperative.  In  supporting  and  pre- 
serving the  value  of  the  individual  against  the  impe- 
rialism of  politics  and  the  materialism  of  philosophy 
it  had,  or  seemed  to  have,  a  sufficient  task.  Now  that 
the  church  makes  no  effort  to  realize  human  brother- 
hood, this  ideal  of  its  early  history  survives  in  the 
doctrine  of  socialism,  while  the  efforts  to  realize  what 
human  brotherhood  might  effect  are  inspired  by  eco- 
nomic instead  of  ethical  methods,  by  materialistic  in- 
stead of  religious  conceptions.  And  religion  itself 
is  fast  losing  its  hold  on  the  first  and  the  last  belief 
which  gave  it  potency  and  enthusiasm.  The  revival 
389 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

of  both  its  social  and  ethical  functions  will  fall  to 
science,  unless  it  quickly  assumes  the  offensive  in  the 
fundamental  ideas  which  gave  it  birth. 

I  quite  agree  that  it  is  not  the  mere  belief  in  a 
future  existence  that  will  regenerate  either  the  indi- 
vidual or  society.  This  is  adequately  proved  by  the 
lives  of  savages,  and  by  other  forms  of  social  organi- 
zation. It  is  well  enough  illustrated  in  the  history 
of  modern  spiritualism.  But  I  am  not  contending 
that  its  value  lies  merely  in  its  being  believed.  Nor 
do  I  expect  the  belief  alone  to  animate  every  one 
at  once  with  the  highest  ideals  of  life.  I  am  not  de- 
fending its  importance  on  the  assumption  that  men 
and  women  have  only  to  be  convinced  of  it  to  become 
angelic.  I  know  too  well  that  it  requires  much  more 
to  bring  about  such  a  change  in  man  individually  and 
socially.  But  it  nevertheless  is  the  most  important 
factor  in  the  protection  of  such  virtues  as  can  effect 
this  result  in  the  long  run.  The  morality  of  the  pres- 
ent moment  often  makes  itself  felt  without  incentives 
borrowed  from  the  future.  But  there  is  a  point  where 
men  cannot  be  induced  to  sacrifice  the  present  to  the 
future  unless  the  latter  be  guaranteed. 

The  principle  which  I  am  defending  here  is  per- 
fectly apparent  in  all  the  morality  of  the  present  life 
regardless  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  All  that 
the  idea  of  a  future  life  does  is  to  say  that  the  line 
affecting  conduct  is  not  drawn  at  the  grave.  It  ex- 
tends the  place  of  time  in  thought  and  action.  All 
sound  ethics  recognizes  time  in  the  application  of  its 
maxims.  It  is  always  teaching  the  importance  of  sac- 
390 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

rificing  the  present  moment  to  a  distant  one.  The 
doctrine  of  "  enlightened  self-interest  "  always  empha- 
sizes the  idea  of  rewards  for  resisting  present  impulse 
in  the  expectation  of  later  compensation.  The  man 
who  thinks  of  the  consequences  to-morrow  and  gives 
up  the  pleasure  of  to-day  is  always  regarded  the 
wiser.  We  are  in  no  case  the  best  for  taking  the 
present  moment  on  the  wing  and  ignoring  the  next. 
It  is  the  same  in  our  economic  life.  We  always  re- 
gard the  future  in  the  rate  of  profit  and  interest. 
The  less  the  risk  the  less  the  rate  of  interest.  The 
surer  the  investment  the  less  the  profit  expected  or 
desired.  Time  is  thus  a  primary  factor  in  both  our 
ethical  and  economic  conduct.  In  all  maxims  of  life 
this  element  of  time  is  one  of  the  most  important,  and 
there  is  no  reason  for  refusing  it  the  same  importance 
for  a  life  after  death,  provided  that  life  can  be  as- 
sured to  us.  It  only  extends  the  time  with  which 
ethical  maxims  must  reckon  in  their  teaching. 

Now  the  belief  in  a  future  life  furnishes  two  things 
of  importance  for  all  reflective  life.  The  first  is  the 
value  of  human  personality.  That  is,  its  permanence 
along  with  that  of  the  indestructibility  of  matter  and 
the  conservation  of  energy.  The  second  is  the  exten- 
sion of  time  in  the  estimation  of  ethical  maxims.  These 
two  facts  may  serve  as  protectives  to  other  rules  of 
conduct  which  might  not  have  power  enough  to  sustain 
themselves  on  other  grounds.  It  is  the  inner  spiritual 
life  that  needs  protection  against  the  temptations  of 
the  moment,  not  because  we  may  see  its  value,  but 
because  the  human  mind  naturally  tends  to  recognize 
391 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

the  securities  of  the  present  sensory  experience 
against  the  claims  of  the  unassured  permanence  of 
any  other  life. 

But  the  point  at  which  the  belief  in  a  future  exist- 
ence becomes  of  the  most  importance  is  in  its  relation 
to  what  may  be  called  the  intellectual  or  philosophical 
systems  which  serve  as  agencies  in  the  sustenance  and 
propagation  of  ideals.  No  doubt  many  individuals 
in  all  ages,  even  where  a  future  life  may  not  be 
thought  of  or  have  any  fundamental  importance  in  the 
individual  and  social  systems  of  conduct,  have  been 
able  to  attain  high  ideals  of  life  without  perpetually 
keeping  the  mind  on  such  a  belief.  But  a  rational 
system  of  thought  can  hardly  ignore  its  efficiency  in 
moving  communities  to  some  common  conception  of 
duty  and  interest.  In  all  ages  it  has  been  the  intel- 
lectual man,  the  philosopher  in  some  sense,  that  has 
dominated  the  thought  of  the  community.  In  some 
sense  it  is  the  most  intelligent  man  that  governs  us. 
It  may  be  that  he  is  most  intelligent  only  in  the  ma- 
chinery of  bad  politics.  But  all  depends  on  what 
the  ideal  of  the  community  is.  The  man  is  always 
selected  who  represents  the  real  or  imagined  interest 
of  the  largest  number  of  people  in  the  community, 
where  democracy  is  the  social  system.  The  best  man 
from  other  points  of  view  may  be  excluded  from 
recognition.  But  everywhere  and  always  intelligence 
of  some  kind  is  the  dominating  agency  in  private  and 
political  life.  If  that  intelligence  is  associated  with 
a  religious  and  ethical  view  of  the  cosmos,  it  inspires 
law  and  custom  with  its  ideals  more  or  less.  If  it  be 
materialistic  it  recognizes  unethical  ideals  in  its  policy. 
392 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Now  the  immortality  of  the  soul  has  always  been  one 
of  the  main  stays  of  the  religious  conception  of  life 
and  duty.  It  has  rationalized  many  of  the  maxims 
of  conduct  which  would  hardly  stand  alone.  What 
the  teacher  wants  always  is  some  premise  in  nature 
and  fact  for  reinforcing  the  ethical  maxims  which 
he  values.  Give  him  an  established  major  premise 
that  protects  the  value  of  the  individual  and  he  will 
instill  a  community  with  its  implications  wherever  he 
can  get  that  premise  admitted.  No  unanimous  sen- 
timent can  exist  on  any  other  basis. 

The  intellectual  classes  constitute  the  teaching 
members  of  the  community  and  they  require  as  a  con- 
dition of  effectiveness  that  some  assured  fact  be 
established  in  order  to  make  it  the  fulcrum  for  logical 
reasoning.  Men  have  to  be  influenced  either  by 
force  or  reason.  In  the  absence  of  reason  the 
mediaeval  period  used  persecution  to  create  unanimity 
of  sentiment  and  action.  The  conqueror  has  always 
subdued  the  intellects  of  his  enemies  as  well  as  their 
bodies,  at  least  subdued  their  influence.  No  com- 
munity can  exist  without  some  unanimity  of  belief 
and  action.  This  common  sentiment  has  to  be 
brought  about  in  some  way,  and  there  are  only  two 
ways  in  which  it  can  be  done.  The  strong  may  in- 
sist by  force  that  the  weaker  shall  submit,  or  they 
may  reason  them  into  voluntary  agreement  regard- 
ing the  wiser  course  of  action.  Reason  is  the  peace- 
ful way  of  obtaining  unanimity  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion, force  is  the  method  of  war.  But  the  condition 
of  reasoning  is  a  major  premise  which  no  one  will  dis- 
pute.    On  that  may  be  built  a  system  of  minor  prem- 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ises  which  will  organize  a  series  of  common  beliefs 
that  will  determine  the  various  actions  of  the  com- 
munity, and  this  method  consists  with  the  largest 
amount  of  freedom  for  the  individual,  especially  re- 
garding actions  on  which  the  sentiment  of  the  com- 
munity is  not  agreed. 

Now  men  have  a  tendency  to  adopt  some  one  ideal 
of  action  to  which  all  other  ends  are  subordinated. 
It  may  be  wealth  to  which  a  man  subordinates  all 
other  desires;  it  may  be  fame  and  ambition  to  which 
he  sacrifices  all  other  impulses;  it  may  be  knowledge; 
it  may  be  physical  appetite;  it  may  be  dress;  it  may 
be  art;  it  may  be  power;  it  may  be  religion.  In  all 
such  cases  the  maxim  of  a  man's  life  is  to  make 
everything  a  means  to  the  one  chief  end.  What- 
ever sanctity  the  chief  end  has,  it  will  carry  with  it 
that  of  the  subordinate  aims,  and  whatever  vicious  as- 
pect the  chief  aim  has  will  give  its  character  to  the 
others.  What  is  wanted,  therefore,  in  ethics  is  some 
position  which  will  enable  the  moralist,  by  rational 
methods,  to  give  true  perspective  to  the  various  pos- 
sibilities of  human  life.  If  the  sensory  life  is  the 
only  one  man  is  to  have,  he  will  naturally  subordinate 
all  to  it ;  if  he  is  to  have  a  supersensory  life  it  will  be 
possible  to  give  a  permanent  and  more  exalted  impor- 
tance to  his  inner  and  reflective  habits,  and  to  urge  by 
reason  the  transcendent  seriousness  of  taking  time 
more  carefully  into  account  in  the  regulation  of 
thought  and  action.  The  proof  of  a  future  life  would 
supply  the  premise  which  would  enable  the  intellectual 
and  rationalizing  mind  to  sustain  the  importance  of 
the  time  element  in  the  maxims  of  conduct  and  to  asso- 
394 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ciate  with  it  all  the  virtues  which  are  necessary  for 
attaining  the  one  chief  end,  namely,  the  culture  which 
promises  permanent  interest  and  value.  The  various 
means  to  this  one  end  could  be  more  effectively  sanc- 
tified and  human  interests  unified  and  directed  to  one 
ideal.  At  present  with  the  incertitude  on  this  one 
center  of  gravity  for  human  ideals,  there  is  nothing 
to  do  but  to  leave  the  mind  to  its  own  liberties  and 
to  keep  in  existence  a  system  of  warring  interests 
which  the  intelligent  man  cannot  unify  or  reconcile. 
There  is  no  sufficient  premise  for  urging  assuredly  the 
importance  which  nature  attaches  to  the  spiritual 
ideal.  Many  instincts  guide  us  rightly  toward  the 
correct  goal,  but  we  require  in  addition  to  this  the  co- 
operation of  reason,  of  the  systematizing  intellect,  in 
order  to  create  by  its  unifying  processes  the  unanim- 
ity of  thought  and  sentiment  that  will  enable  the  in- 
tellectual classes  to  rule  the  world  again  as  against 
the  brute  force  of  materialism. 

It  is  not  that  men  shall  always  be  consciously  look- 
ing at  a  future  life  as  a  condition  of  salvation  that 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  shall  have  its  importance 
recognized,  but  that  the  assurance  of  it  can  be  made 
a  protection  for  the  virtues  of  the  present  life,  vir- 
tues that  too  often  are  neglected  because  they  are 
not  seen  in  the  light  of  the  eternal.  They  are  sub- 
ordinated or  wholly  sacrificed  to  earthly  aims  alone. 
What  is  needed  is  a  means  for  giving  prominence  and 
emphasis  to  lines  of  thought  and  action  that  are 
suppressed  by  a  materialistic  outlook  in  things.  We 
may  say  all  we  please  that  a  man's  duties  are  in  the 
present,  a  view  which  I  think  is  entirely  true.  But 
395 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

as  the  present  carries  in  its  alembic  the  germs  of  a  far 
distant  future  we  can  no  more  neglect  that  future  in 
our  action  than  we  can  the  present.  Besides,  those 
duties  will  get  their  value  recognized  only  in  their 
relation  to  that  future,  if  the  philosophy  of  Immanuel 
Kant  be  true.  But  true  or  false,  there  is  no  more 
effective  way  to  enable  the  human  mind  to  select 
wisely  the  duties  which  shall  prevail  in  the  present 
than  to  assure  it  of  the  relation  which  they  sustain 
to  a  remoter  future,  just  as  intelligent  men  take  ac- 
count of  the  distant  in  their  investments.  It  is  not 
the  interest  of  the  present  moment  alone  that  the 
rational  man  estimates  most  highly.  He  tries  to  select 
from  the  various  conflicting  interests  that  appear  be- 
fore his  vision  the  one  that  runs  like  a  golden  thread 
through  all  the  web  and  woof  of  past,  present  and 
future.  Nor  do  men  in  their  other  studies  of  nature 
confine  themselves  to  the  mere  past  and  present. 
Even  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  spite  of  his  agnosticism 
in  all  matters  religious,  insists  that  the  fundamental 
test  of  science  is  prevision.  A  man  who  insists  that 
it  concerns  itself  only  with  the  past  and  the  present, 
with  present  facts  and  their  antecedent  causes,  either 
narrows  the  functions  of  his  inquiries  or  disregards 
all  the  human  interests  that  make  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  a  useful  affair.  The  self-same  people 
also  are  always  predicting,  on  the  basis  established 
by  fact,  the  course  of  the  future,  and  in  fact  it  is  the 
future  in  which  every  man  lives  in  all  his  daily  con- 
duct. He  plans  for  the  morrow  or  the  next  year,  and 
his  present  gets  half  its  joys  from  the  hopes  of  the 
future  in  which  the  fruition  of  the  present  is  found. 
396 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Men  no  more  disregard  the  future  in  their  lives  than 
they  do  the  past.  In  fact,  they  can  well  neglect 
the  past  altogether  but  for  its  determinative  relation 
to  the  permanent  in  reality.  We  cannot  undo  the 
past,  but  we  can  prevent  the  future  from  being  what 
it  would  be  without  previsionary  action.  The  one 
important  thing  is  to  admit  the  place  which  time  has 
in  the  determination  of  the  most  rational  life  and 
then  to  accept  any  fact  which  shows  itself  a  part  of 
the  cosmic  scheme  in  the  determination  of  progress. 
A  future  life  will  do  as  much  for  ethics  as  the  stabil- 
ity of  an  economic  system  will  do  for  industrial  de- 
velopment, and  it  is  as  absurd  to  ignore  the  one  as  it 
is  the  other.  There  is  no  reason  for  desiring  sta- 
bility in  economic  ideals  and  forces  that  does  not 
apply  to  ethics  and  the  belief  in  a  future  existence 
for  the  soul. 

There  is  no  belief  which  can  be  so  effective  in  miti- 
gating the  sufferings  of  the  world  as  that  of  a  future 
life.  Those  who  have  accumulated  property  enough 
to  defy  the  rest  of  the  world  in  their  living  and  those 
whose  salaries  give  them  social  independence  may  not 
see  this.  They  can  satisfy  their  earthly  ideals  with- 
out adjusting  their  opinions  to  the  demands  of  their 
neighbors.  But  they  have  no  means  of  answering 
the  bitter  queries  of  those  who  have  been  less  suc- 
cessful and  who  have  no  circumstances  to  make  them 
optimistic.  A  man  with  a  living  and  his  liberty  and 
with  no  sense  of  obligation  to  the  community  may 
well  think  this  world  is  good  enough  and  may  resolve 
to  take  things  as  they  come.  But  in  enjoying  the 
share  to  which  others  may  be  equally  entitled  in  the 
397 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

struggle  for  existence  he  has  nothing  but  the  im- 
munity of  his  position  to  protect  him  against  the 
gibes  and  sarcasm  of  those  who  have  not  won  a  part 
of  his  honors  and  freedom.  When  your  policy  has 
been  to  escape  responsibility  for  all  the  aspirations  of 
the  world  and  to  obtain  security  in  the  pursuit  of  your 
own  ideals,  it  is  but  natural  that  you  would  evade  the 
consideration  of  all  that  humankind  regards  as  valu- 
able, and  the  penalty  in  the  end  will  be  the  contempt 
of  those  whose  interests  and  ideals  you  despise.  When 
they  come  into  their  power  they  will  have  their  re- 
venge. If  the  intellectual  classes  who  are  endowed 
with  the  duties  of  the  world's  teachers  do  not  assume 
to  guide  them  in  the  great  questions  that  affect  their 
ethical  lives,  but  sit  in  aristocratic  contempt  of  the 
hopes  and  ideals  that  have  dominated  history,  they 
will  find  their  mission  supplanted.  If  philosophy 
cannot  condescend  to  help  the  multitudes  with  a  gos- 
pel that  moves  life  at  its  foundations,  it  must  go  the 
way  of  all  useless  doctrines.  The  practical  man 
wants  assurance  as  to  the  meaning  of  this  life  for  the 
individual  and  unless  the  academic  man  can  give  him 
this  he  will  seek  his  information  from  those  who 
can  give  it.  It  is  not  that  philosophy  needs  always 
to  be  harping  on  the  destiny  of  the  soul,  but  that  it 
needs  to  buttress  up  practical  ethics  by  their  relation 
to  a  future  which  makes  the  present  its  servant  or 
which  protects  the  earnest  mind  in  its  desire  to  justify 
its  ideals. 

It  was  but  yesterday  that  I  overheard  a  man  on  the 
train  say,  pointing  to  a  sister  of  charity,  "  If  there 
398 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

is  any  heaven,  she  will  get  there.  She  sacrifices  her 
life  to  that  work."  The  man  himself  was  one  of 
these  eupeptic  specimens  who  evidently  like  the 
physical  life  and  was  not  disposed  to  make  any  sac- 
rifices to  what  he  regarded  as  doubtful.  To  him  the 
future  life  was  a  risk  not  worth  taking  into  account. 
But  he  could  recognize  the  merit  of  virtue  and  the 
deserts  which  it  brought  with  it.  To  him,  as  to  all 
who  feel  the  strength  of  scepticism,  life  had  to  be 
measured  in  its  rules  by  the  risks  involved,  and  a 
future  life  was  not  so  certain  as  were  the  pleasures 
of  this.  In  his  choice  he  made  for  the  certainties  and 
shifted  on  nature  or  providence  the  responsibility  for 
the  incertitudes  of  existence.  He  felt  no  duty  to 
act  where  there  was  no  assured  promise  of  fruition. 
He  chose  for  what  he  could  see,  or  where  the  risks 
seemed  less  than  for  the  alternative.  What  is 
needed,  therefore,  is  assurance  on  a  belief  so  funda- 
mental to  ethical  choice.  What  it  would  do  in  alter- 
ing the  center  of  gravity  for  human  endeavor  and 
patience  is  evident  to  all  who  have  read  history  in- 
telligently. The  thought  has  been  well  expressed 
by  Mr.  Stedman  who  has  so  recently  passed  from  us. 
He,  I  happen  to  know,  was  interested  in  the  work 
which  investigation  has  undertaken  in  this  direction, 
but  could  never  bring  himself  to  understand  its  per- 
plexities and  method.  But  both  the  rational  and 
emotional  needs  of  many  souls  were  beautifully  set 
forth  in  the  poem  which  I  quote.  The  burden  of 
its  cry  is  for  assurance  which  the  idealist  might  use 
for  redeeming  the  wavering  mind. 
399 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

Could  we  but  know 
The  land  that  ends  our  dark  uncertain  travel, 
Where  lie  those  happier  rills  and  meadows  low  — 
And,  if  beyond  the  spirit's  inmost  cavil, 
Aught  of  that  country  could  we  surely  know, 

Who  would  not  go? 

Might  we  but  hear 
The  hovering  angels'  high  imagined  chorus, 
Or  catch  betimes,  with  wakeful  eyes  and  clear, 
One  radiant  vista  of  the  realm  before  us  — 

Ah,  who  would  fear? 

Were  we  quite  sure 
To  find  the  peerless  friend  who  left  us  lonely, 
Or,  there  by  some  celestial  stream  as  pure, 
To  gaze  in  eyes  that  here  were  lovely  only, 
This  weary  mortal  coil,  were  we  quite  sure 

Who  would  endure? 

Perhaps  "  We  could  endure,"  would  either  express 
the  poet's  thought  or  give  the  Stoical  touch  to  its 
strain  and  indicate  the  ethics  which  would  dominate 
all  life  when  hope  would  be  as  effective  in  its  attitude 
toward  death  as  it  is  in  its  influence  on  the  efforts  of 
the  earthly  life  where  some  material  end  is  its  aim. 
The  poet  is  only  reflecting  the  feelings  of  all  high 
souls  and  those  who  affect  indifference  to  sentiment 
of  this  kind  usually  reserve  their  emotions  for  a 
"  smoker  "  or  a  beefsteak  and  a  glass  of  wine.  The 
hypocrisy  or  ignorance  of  the  philosopher  is  mani- 
fest when  he  exhibits  a  consuming  passion  for  the 
social  and  material  pleasures  of  life  and  affects  a 
righteous  contempt  for  emotion  when  it  concerns  the 
ideals  of  religion  and  a  future  life.  Once  he  was 
supposed  to  help  the  race  in  guiding  its  emotions 
400 


PSYCHICAL.    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

toward  a  right  goal  and  so  saw  life  in  its  true  per- 
spective. But  latterly,  assuming  the  unbiased  nature 
of  doubt,  he  prides  himself  in  laughing  at  inspiration 
and  hope  when  they  suffer  at  the  loss  of  all  that  gave 
meaning  to  life  and  effort  while  he  labors  with  all  his 
might  to  secure  the  pleasures  of  a  good  table  and 
social  recognition  without  accepting  any  responsibil- 
ity to  share  human  struggle  and  suffering.  Philos- 
ophic idealism  is  often  nothing  more  than  contempt 
for  those  whom  it  is  the  business  of  the  more  success- 
ful to  help.  It  affects  to  guide  man  into  the  truth 
and  then  shies  at  every  form  of  it  which  promises  to 
justify  its  own  vocation,  and  only  because  it  eschews 
religious  emotion  while  it  revels  in  the  passion  for 
an  aristocratic  life. 

It  is  true  enough  that  emotion  and  desire  do  not 
and  should  not  determine  what  is  true,  and  it  is  the 
merit  of  the  philosopher  that  he  keeps  a  cool  eye  on 
the  criteria  of  facts.  But  he  makes  an  equal  mis- 
take when  he  refuses  to  recognize  the  place  of  emo- 
tion in  the  affairs  of  life.  No  ideal  is  ever  formed 
under  any  other  influence.  Emotion  estimates  or 
determines  the  values  of  life,  whether  they  are  chosen 
in  material  or  spiritual  ends.  It  is  quite  as  legiti- 
mate to  desire  immortality  as  it  is  to  desire  a  good 
breakfast.  Whether  we  shall  estimate  one  above  the 
other  depends  on  our  moral  perspective.  No  doubt 
the  one  can  be  abused  as  well  as  the  other,  but  that 
does  not  prove  that  it  can  be  ignored.  All  depends 
upon  the  coloring  we  give  it  in  the  life  we  wish  to 
realize.  We  may  not  be  able  to  reach  all  that  we 
idealize,  and  emotion  may  stimulate  us  toward  ends 
401 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

which  we  have  no  hope  of  attaining.  But  it  is  the 
criterion  of  value,  as  it  is  the  satisfaction  which  we 
take  in  what  we  attain  and  strive  to  attain.  The  in- 
tellect can  determine  no  ideal  whatever.  Its  function 
is  to  decide  coolly  and  dispassionately  the  means  to 
an  end  predetermined  by  emotion.  It  is  passion,  if 
we  may  so  call  it,  that  decides  the  summnnn  bonwn, 
the  good  to  which  all  other  aims  are  subordinated. 
All  that  the  intellect,  the  philosopher,  can  do  is  to  de- 
cide whether  it  is  attainable  or  not.  He  cannot  pro- 
nounce on  its  value  without  invoking  the  emotional 
nature  which  he  affects  to  despise.  No  doubt  the 
believer  in  a  future  life  has  too  often  forgotten  the 
place  which  his  faith  has  in  sanctifying  patience  with 
the  present,  in  protecting  "  eternal  life  "  in  the  pass- 
ing moment,  whatever  the  shadows  that  hover  over 
it ;  but  in  deprecating  the  abuse  of  emotion  in  that 
belief,  we  may  easily  fall  heir  to  the  materialism  which 
it  was  the  function  of  philosophy  to  criticize  and 
modify. 

Nor  am  I  unmindful  that  we  may  make  materialism 
more  of  a  bugbear  than  it  is.  The  idealist  thinks 
that  it  is  easily  refuted,  when  in  fact,  the  materialism 
which  has  influenced  really  thinking  men  is  not  only 
not  easily  refuted,  but  is  not  the  "  materialism " 
which  the  idealist  attacks.  The  materialism  which 
serves  as  a  useful  punching  bag  for  the  idealist,  and 
as  a  cover  to  conceal  his  indifference  to  the  real  prob- 
lems of  philosophy  and  life,  may  be  readily  attacked, 
but  that  form  of  it  which  negatives  the  ideals  of  re- 
ligion will  not  yield  to  the  veiled  and  misty  equivo- 
cations of  Kant  and  Hegel.  But  granting  its 
402 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

strength  in  its  most  objectionable  form  it  still  carries 
with  it  an  important  lesson  for  the  development  of 
man.  Its  great  lesson  to  the  world  is  a  fixed  order 
of  things.  Idealism  emphasizes  freedom  and  vanity. 
Just  as  man  conceives  his  independence  of  the  physical 
order,  he  assumes  to  disregard  its  laws  and  seeks 
emancipation  from  their  limitations.  Nowhere  was 
this  more  true  than  for  those  ages  that  made  the 
world  carnal  while  insisting  that  it  was  divine.  The 
reaction  against  Greco-Roman  materialism  carried 
with  it  the  neglect  of  present  duties,  and  in  the  midst 
of  a  certain  kind  of  humility  fostered  a  spiritual 
pride  that  ignored  the  laws  of  God  quite  as  much  as 
the  materialist.  Man  needs  freedom,  but  not  the  free- 
dom from  law  and  order.  Obedience  is  quite  as  much 
a  duty  as  commanding  the  services  of  nature.  In 
emancipating  himself  from  the  tyranny  of  the  world, 
he  too  often  assumes  an  arrogance  which  can  be  cor- 
rected only  by  the  humiliations  of  defeat,  and  ma- 
terialism has  come  to  fix  for  him  an  order  which  he 
cannot  defy.  It  is  the  embodiment  of  the  idea  of 
irrevocable  laws,  conceding  no  liberties  except  such 
as  come  within  the  limits  of  its  unchangeable  order. 
This  function  of  its  nature  we  do  not  yet  see.  We 
shall  not  see  it  until  we  find  that  a  future  life  is  within 
its  providential  scheme.  In  the  meantime  we  can 
only  attack  its  attitude  toward  the  facts  which  destroy 
its  denial  of  immortality  while  they  leave  untouched 
its  real  contribution  to  ethical  thought. 

A  sane  philosophy  is  poetry  or  it  is  nothing,  just 
as  poetry  is  the  philosophy  of  the  imaginative  mind, 
and   each   needs   the   other    in   the   determination   of 
403 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

human  truths  and  worths.  The  story  of  the  resur- 
rection gave  rise  to  a  philosophy  which  had  poetry 
enough  in  it  to  give  it  a  life  of  many  centuries,  with 
all  its  good  and  evil.  Had  the  early  philosophers 
had  the  critical  method  and  the  stable  civilization 
to  help  them  escape  the  abuses  that  gathered  like 
moss  about  the  incidents  which  gave  rise  to  a  new 
order,  the  conflict  between  science  and  religion  might 
have  been  pacified  long  ago.  The  waste  of  passion 
and  superstition  might  have  been  saved  its  ravages, 
and  philosophy  would  have  had  no  reason  to  vindi- 
cate itself  by  scepticism.  But  it  has  fallen  to  science 
to  mediate  between  the  agnosticism  of  philosophy  and 
the  faith  of  religion,  and  if  it  can  find  in  the  passing 
moment  the  facts  which  reveal  the  obscured  meaning 
of  the  story  of  the  resurrection  it  will  subdue  all  the 
animosities  of  the  ages  and  reconcile  the  passions  of 
truth  and  hope. 

In  educating  me  it  was  my  father's  wish  that  I 
should  choose  the  ministry.  He  would  not  interfere 
with  my  spontaneous  desires,  but  his  disappointment 
was  keen  when  his  hopes  were  blasted,  but  he  bowed 
quietly  and  patiently  to  a  decision  which  his  faith 
made  him  believe  was  providential.  He  never  wholly 
knew  the  influences  which  determined  my  develop- 
ment. It  was  impossible  to  convey  them  to  a  nar- 
rower experience.  The  ministry  had  its  attractions, 
but  its  denial  of  freedom  and  its  irreconcilable  atti- 
tude toward  science  made  it  impossible  to  stultify  my 
intellect  or  my  conscience,  and  destiny  found  a  way 
to  emancipate  me  from  the  priesthood  of  both  the 
church  and  the  university,  while  it  kept  in  me  the 
404 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ideals  of  both.  It  was  a  long  and  weary  struggle. 
Taste,  aspirations,  environment  physical  and  social, 
education,  all  conspired  to  make  the  choice  desirable. 
But  every  influence  which  time  and  circumstances  con- 
jured up  to  decide  the  issue  only  found  its  specific 
aim  defeated,  though  the  fundamental  tendencies  of 
religious  ideals  did  not  abate  their  power  and  signifi- 
cance. Philosophy  and  literature  poured  their  con- 
tents into  the  lap  of  fortune  and  left  in  their  train 
the  still  abiding  spiritualism  which  made  life  worth 
living  or  kept  alive  the  faith  that  revelation  had  ob- 
scured. The  works  of  nature  appealed  to  me  as  they 
do  to  all  who  have  to  decide  between  the  fictions  of 
speculative  philosophy  and  the  realities  of  things. 
Every  department  of  nature  and  human  experience 
was  ransacked  for  data  to  aid  in  the  solution  of  this 
momentous  question. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  influences  that  I  found 
myself  one  autumn  afternoon  on  a  hill  overlooking 
a  beautiful  valley.  The  little  hamlets  which  were 
scattered  over  the  landscape  sent  their  smoke  heaven- 
ward and  contained  the  domestic  peace  which  pioneer 
life  may  give.  A  little  kirk  stood  in  the  village, 
where  the  rural  worshippers  gathered  once  a  week  to 
keep  alive  their  faith  and  hopes.  A  mountain  stream 
dashed  over  the  rocks  on  its  hurried  course  to  rest  in 
the  sea.  The  flocks  and  herds  were  grazing  peace- 
fully on  the  meadows,  ignorant  of  the  sorrows  that 
fleck  the  little  life  of  unhappy  man  in  other  climes. 
The  sky  had  uncovered  its  expanse  and  opened  its  im- 
measurable depths  to  a  clear  vision,  cooling  and  sub- 
lime in  the  reverential  moods  which  it  excited.  The 
405 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

sun  had  driven  his  chariot  down  the  western  slopes  of 
space  and  pausing  on  the  horizon's  bar  threw  back 
upon  that  autumn  valley  the  melancholy  and  majestic 
gloom  of  twilight,  the  "  dim  religious  light  "  of  God. 
The  clouds  that  gathered  around  his  splendid  throne 
to  catch  the  last  benediction  of  his  radiance,  linger- 
ing for  a  while  in  his  gorgeous  hues  of  red  and  gold, 
turned  to  wander  down  the  azure  blue  of  night  in  end- 
less voyage.  The  forests  on  the  distant  hills,  mel- 
lowed by  the  October  frosts,  were  waving  in  sad  but 
beautiful  luxuriance.  A  little  cemetery  lay  on  the 
right  where  the  mossy  dead  were  supposed  to  wait  for 
the  happy  resurrection  and  where  the  cypress  and  the 
pine  kept  watch  over  the  gates  to  immortality  and 
God.  Over  all  this  a  strange  wind  was  blowing,  De 
Quincy's  Sarsar  wind  of  death  that  might  have  swept 
the  fields  of  mortality  for  a  thousand  centuries,  mov- 
ing slowly  and  solemnly  in  Memnonian  strains  over 
the  everlasting  Sabbath  of  the  grave.  And  there,  as 
the  stars  broke  through  the  crystal  empyrean  to 
lighten  the  shades  of  night  with  their  natural  splen- 
dor, I  found  myself  dedicated  to  the  work  of  justify- 
ing the  ways  of  God  to  men. 

But  scarcely  had  those  feelings  shaped  themselves 
into  resolution  when  the  chilling  breath  of  scepticism 
came  to  cool  the  ardor  of  my  hopes.  The  first  step 
in  this  direction  was  the  discovered  need  for  me  of 
revised  biblical  interpretation  enforced  by  a  little  sec- 
tarian controversy  about  amending  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  in  favor  of  certain  religious 
acknowledgments.  The  fatal  chapter,  however,  fix- 
ing doubt  beyond  recovery  was  that  on  the  Incarna- 
406 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

tion  and  the  Resurrection  in  Barnes'  Evidences  of 
Christianity.  Faith  might  have  had  its  way  had  it 
not  submitted  its  claims  to  proof.  The  very  gibes 
of  religious  fanatics  and  cartoonists  against  the  doc- 
trine of  Darwin  strengthened  it  in  my  sight,  and 
every  discovery  of  geology,  of  physiology,  and  of 
psychology  pointed  to  only  one  conclusion,  that  of 
materialism.  I  accepted  it,  not  because  it  was  a  de- 
sirable philosophy,  but  because  the  evidence  of  fact 
was  on  its  side,  and  neither  the  illusions  of  idealism 
nor  the  interests  of  religious  hope  were  sufficient  to 
tempt  me  into  a  career  of  hypocrisy  and  cowardice. 
I  had  to  temporize  with  many  a  situation  until  I  could 
assure  my  own  mind  where  it  stood.  In  the  pursuit 
of  some  final  truth  on  which  to  base  a  life  work  I 
passed  through  all  the  labyrinths  of  philosophy,  los- 
ing nothing  and  gaining  nothing  in  its  meshes. 
After  Plato  and  Aristotle  it  seemed  to  lose  its  moor- 
ings in  facts  and  lived  on  tradition  and  authority. 
New  discoveries  and  reconstruction  it  despised  as  it 
would  the  occupation  of  neophytes  and  children.  At 
last  I  was  directed  to  the  idealism  of  Kant  for  light 
and  found  there  a  system  as  helpless  as  it  was  mysti- 
fying, though  it  had  been  born  in  the  atmosphere  of 
Swedenborg's  distinction  between  the  transcendental 
and  the  phenomenal  and  of  which  it  soon  became 
ashamed.  In  it  the  bankruptcy  of  philosophy  was 
the  opportunity  of  science,  and  in  a  favorable,  though 
accidental  moment  my  attention  was  attracted  by 
psychic  research  in  which  the  first  prospect  of  crucial 
facts  presented  itself. 

However  satisfactory  philosophy  had  been  in  show- 
407 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

ing  that  the  meaning  of  the  cosmos  was  to  be  found 
in  the  supersensible,  whether  by  idealism  or  atomic 
materialism,  the  more  exacting  method  of  science, 
which  had  strengthened  the  claims  of  physical  law 
and  causes  and  which  became  the  standard  of  truth, 
made  it  necessary  to  regard  the  residual  phenomena 
of  human  experience,  if  only  to  corroborate  the  in- 
ferences which  idealism  had  drawn  from  the  normal. 
In  fact,  whatever  the  validity  of  the  older  views  as 
possible  constructions  of  the  world,  their  probability 
was  lost  in  the  face  of  the  certitudes  of  science  which 
had  multiplied  evidence  for  the  extension  of  physical 
explanations,  and  religion  had  to  turn  to  the  residual 
phenomena  of  life,  as  it  had  once  done,  to  vindicate 
its  aspirations  and  interpretation  of  the  cosmos.  It 
does  not  yet  clearly  see  the  direction  from  which  its 
light  is  to  come.  But  in  the  accumulation  of  facts 
within  the  field  of  supernormal  phenomena  I  found 
the  dawn  of  another  day  for  an  idealism  that  will  last 
as  long  as  scientific  method  can  claim  respect.  All  the 
mythical  and  misty  past,  seen  in  the  light  of  a  slow 
and  patient  evolution,  assumed  a  new  meaning,  and  we 
may  exclaim  with  the  first  lines  of  Goethe's  Faust: — 

Ihr  naht  euch  wieder  schwankende  Gestalten ! 
Die   fruh  sich  einst  dem  triiben   Blick  gezeigt. 

Ye  come  again  ye  vanishing  forms, 
That  once  had  crossed  my  troubled  view. 

The  darkness  which  inhuman  theories  and  ethical 
indifference  brings  to  disappointment  and  suffering 
promises  to  lift  in  the  light  of  those  facts  which  estab- 
lish a  link  between  the  past  and  the  future,  holding 
408 


PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    THE    RESURRECTION 

out  to  those  who  have  lost  in  the  struggle  of  the 
present  existence  the  hope  and  the  chance  to  recover 
the  pursuit  of  their  ideals  in  another  life.  No  one 
can  then  censure  the  philosopher,  if,  in  the  hour  of 
such  a  triumph,  he  looks  with  gratitude  at  the  facts 
which  renew  his  power  over  the  world  and  breaks  into 
the  same  passion  as  Goethe  again. 

Ihr  bringt  mit  euch  die  Bilder  froher   Tage 
Und  manche  liebe   Schatten   steigen   auf; 
Gleich  einer  alten,  halb  verklungen  Sage, 
Kommt  erste  Lieb'  und  Freundschaft  mit  hierauf. 

Ye  bring  with  you  the  vision  pure  of  happy  days, 
And  many  lovely  shadows  rise  upon  the  lea; 
And  like  an  ancient  half  forgotten  song, 
Ye  bring  my  love  and  friendship  back  to  me. 

There  are  signs  enough  of  social  and  political  up- 
heaval in  the  dissolution  of  the  older  ethical  and  re- 
ligious ideals  and  it  will  devolve  on  a  new  philosophy 
to  aid  in  the  reconstruction  of  order.  The  academic 
world  is  blind  to  the  needs  of  the  hour  and  has  iso- 
lated itself  in  aristocratic  seclusion  from  contact  with 
the  life  of  those  who  are  ruling  the  tendencies  of  the 
future.  It  is  left,  as  it  apparently  has  always  been, 
to  the  outside  world  to  find  a  leaven  for  the  regener- 
ation, and  if  any  spiritual  ideal  be  discovered  it  must 
be  in  the  little  beacon  lights  that  shine  out  from  the 
residual  and  neglected  phenomena  of  mind  which 
promise  as  wide  an  extension  in  psychological  knowl- 
edge as  the  new  discoveries  in  the  material  world  have 
produced  in  physical  science.  History  may  repeat 
itself  and  must  before  the  revival  of  ethical  passion 
and  religious  ideals. 

409 


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